Frequently asked questions

You've completed the baseline survey — thank you! After we receive your responses to Part 1, we will first screen the items you generated to make sure everything looks good. Once that is completed, you will be ready to start Part 2 of the study.

Starting on the following Friday, you'll receive short surveys on your phone throughout the day asking about what you're doing, thinking, and feeling in the moment across three weeks. Some of the questions will be ones you wrote yourself during the baseline survey from Part 1.

You'll receive five surveys per day for three weeks. At the beginning of the study, you provided a preferred daily start time to us. You will receive the five surveys at scattered times throughout the day, between the start time you indicated, to 15 hours after.

For example, if your indicated start time was 8 AM, you will receive surveys during the 15-hour window from 8 AM to 11 PM. However, the exact times you receive these surveys will vary day to day.

Surveys begin the Friday of the week after you complete the baseline survey.

You'll get a text message (SMS) with a link to that survey, sent from +1 855 643 7952. We recommend saving this number to your contacts as “UBE Study” so surveys are not sent to your spam folder. Tapping the link opens the survey in your phone's browser where you can complete the survey directly.

Yes — in addition to the questions we will send via survey, we will also collect de-identified data from your smartphone (e.g., ambient noise, steps, GPS) and wearable devices, like Apple Watches or Fitbits, if you have one (e.g., heart rate, sleep). These data are collected through Avicenna, an HIPAA compliant research app to be installed on your smartphone. You'll be guided through installing and setting it up before you begin Part 2 of the study.

Each survey is short — most participants finish in around 5 minutes.

Make sure not to close your web browser until you get to a page with the following message: “Thank you for participating in the UBE Study! Your response has been recorded. You may now close this web page.”

That's okay. Try to respond as soon as it's safe and convenient to do so — so your answers reflect what you were actually doing and feeling.

If you receive a new survey before you are able to respond to the previous survey, just respond to that new survey. Don't try to go back and answer a previous survey, since it should reflect the timeframe or moment it was sent.

No problem — missing an occasional survey won't disqualify you. Just keep responding to the ones that follow. Compensation is based on how many surveys you complete (see below), so completing as many as you reasonably can is worthwhile.

However, if you miss more than 50% of the surveys starting after week 1 (between days 8 and 21), you will be disqualified from the study.

That is not a problem: you may skip any and as many questions you don't feel comfortable answering. Leaving an answer blank on the survey will also not prohibit you from continuing to the next page.

However, note that consistently completing less than 50% of any given survey can lead to disqualification.

If you are no longer receiving text messages with survey links, it is possible that the messages went to your spam folder. Please check your spam folder to see if the survey text messages are there.

Instructions for accessing the spam folder on an iPhone (iOS 26)

Instructions for accessing the spam folder on Google Messages (Android's default messaging system)

However, please email us at personality@ucdavis.edu if you are still unsure of how to access the spam folder (e.g., if you have an operating system that's not iPhone or Android), or if you don't see the messages in your spam folder.

If this happens, just text “UNSTOP” or “START” in the conversation thread with the UBE Study number (+1 855 643 7952). Use all capital letters and don't type anything other than “UNSTOP” or “START”.

Shortly after that text, the UBE Study number will send you a message with the next survey link. From then on, you should keep receiving the subsequent surveys.

If the UBE Study number doesn't send a message after your unstop or start request, please reach out to personality@ucdavis.edu for assistance.

You'll earn $0.50 for each completed ESM survey. If you complete at least 90% of your surveys, you'll also receive a $10 bonus.

All compensation, including your baseline payment, is sent as an Amazon Gift Card by email after the 3-week ESM period ends. Because payments have to be processed through a central office, these can be delayed up to 3 weeks.

Yes. Your identifying information is stored separately from your responses. These are linked together by a key that only the core study team has access to. Your responses are fully de-identified and even participant IDs are double blind coded for data analysis.

If our feedback of your items is difficult to understand via email, feel free to schedule a Zoom meeting where we can discuss more thoroughly. Here is a link to a calendar, where you can select a time to meet with us.

Email personality@ucdavis.edu as soon as you notice an issue so they can help you get back on track — occasional technical hiccups won't affect your eligibility or compensation for the surveys you do complete.

Participation is voluntary and you may stop at any time. Please contact personality@ucdavis.edu to let us know you will be withdrawing from the study. Any compensation you have earned thus far by completing Part 2 surveys will be sent to you as a digital Amazon gift card.

Contact personality@ucdavis.edu. We are always happy to help with setup, technical issues, or any other questions as you go through the daily survey period.