Affective Interruptions Impair Task Performance Less Than Neutral Ones Across Age and Task Demands

Fei Huang, Ke Chen, Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, PR China, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Neurocognitive Development and Mental Health, Zhejiang University, PR China

Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society

Published online on April 29, 2026

Abstract

Human Factors, Ahead of Print.
ObjectiveThis study investigated how affective characteristics of interruptions (valence and arousal) influence task resumptions and post-interruption performance in younger and middle-aged/older adults under different task complexity.Background...