As an avid concert-goer, I am no stranger to long lines and long wait times. Now that I am a tourist, I have become even more familiar with the unavoidable exasperation of hanging out with dozens of other tourists as we wait for the airplane, on the escalators, in the metro, or at the tourist attraction.
Lines at Versailles
Lines at Versailles (If you want to see the full video)
However, even though I am familiar with—and expect—the wait, sometimes I look around and wonder what possesses us humans to be willingly (perhaps begrudgingly) shepherded like cattle to arbitrary waiting spaces for what are often ridiculously long periods of time. There have been times that I have waited in line longer than the actual event I went to go experience: for one of the concerts I went to I waited in line from 4PM when the actual event was more around 8-11PM. For me, it was absolutely worth the wait (and the blisters); however, I admit I can see how to an outsider my behavior must seem incredibly irrational. In Europe, the lines have continued to remain an expected aspect in my life; at Versailles, we waited almost two hours to enter the Palace, and according to some people that wait time was not too bad. No one likes waiting—it is a universally hated experience—so what is the social role of waiting? What compels the people who, like me, are willing to wait these absurdly long times?
Wiesel and Freestone (2019) discuss the practicalities of queues and their implications on wider social systems. In their research, they focus specifically on queuing in urban areas, where material resources may be scarce and allocative measures are necessary. Especially in a city like Paris, I have found that I have had to wait in line for the elevator in our building, the cashier at the boulangerie, the turnstiles at the metro—the list goes on and on. Wiesel and Freestone suggest that queues can help build trust in the surrounding strangers and the structural norms of the city; following the “rules” can be seen as an “indicator of integrity” (Giddens 1991), while breaking the rules and “cutting” others can erode social trust and solidarity and increase anxieties about social disorder due to the diversification particularly present in cities like Paris.
Meanwhile, on a neurobiological level, recent research from Miyazaki et al. give evidence for a “model of waiting” that relies on the neurotransmitter serotonin to mediate whether we continue to wait or not based on probability of getting reward and timing of receiving reward. Previously, other researchers have shown that activating more serotonin release in the dorsal raphe nucleus in mice brains will enhance their waiting times for rewards (Fonseca 2015), while lesioning or destroying those neurons will make the mice more impatient (Miyazaki 2012).
Dorsal raphe nucleus
This article builds upon that idea and considers specific parameters when that serotonergic effect is optimized. Using optogenetic stimulation—or using light to activated increased serotonin release in the brain—they found that in order for increased serotonin to increase wait times, the subject must be fairly confident that the reward will happen in the future. In addition, if the reward was very certain to occur, then the effect is more enhanced when the subjects could not predict when the reward would occur.
Their reasoning is that when the timing is more uncertain, it becomes harder to “reject the possibility that the reward may still come” (Miyazaki et al 2018). Though it used to be believed that serotonin works to alter the perception of time, the researchers in this study did not find a consistent pattern of evidence that shows that. Instead, they propose that serotonin may work emotionally to bias us to more positive outcomes and keep us hopeful that the reward will come soon. Specifically, serotonin may help to mediate between the negative experience we have while waiting in the queue and the positive expect beliefs we have about what we are waiting for. While some of their evidence to support their claim could be strengthened—for example, more data to determine how exactly they are determining whether the mice have a “high confidence” in future rewards—their research provides useful insight into the potential role of serotonin in our emotional decision-making.
What does this mean for me while I’m waiting in line? I probably won’t be able to stop being bored, and it’s not like I can stimulate my own neurons to release more serotonin. But between the idea of “building trust” between me and the other Parisians and knowing that there is a neurobiological basis for our willingness to be patient, I know that my wait will be worth it.
References:
Fonseca MS, Murakami M, Mainen ZF (2015) Activation of dorsal raphe serotonergic neurons promotes waiting but is not reinforcing. Curr. Biol. 25:306–315.
Giddens A (1991) Modernity and Self-identity. Cambridge. 88.
Miyazaki K, Miyazaki KW, Yamanaka A, Tokuda T, Tanaka KF, Doya K (2018). Reward probability and timing uncertainty alter the effect of dorsal raphe serotonin neurons on patience. Nature Communications.
Miyazaki KW, Miyazaki K, Doya K (2012) Activation of dorsal raphe serotonin neurons is necessary for waiting for delayed rewards. J. Neurosci. 32:10451–10457.
Miyazaki K, Miyazaki KW, Doya K (2011) Activation of dorsal raphe serotonin neurons underlies waiting for delayed rewards. J. Neurosci. 31:469-479.
Ryan G, Hernandez-Maskivker G, Valverde M, Pamies-Pallise M (2018) Challenging conventional wisdom: Positive waiting. Tour. Manag. 64:64–72.
Wiesel I, Freestone R (2019) Queue City: Authority and trust in the waiting line. Geoforum. 100:229-235.
Images 1 taken by me, 2 and video by Alyssa Kim.
Image 3: Valdemiro Carlos Sgarbieri
Image 4: Courtesy of OIST
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