Stimulus-Response Gap

The stimulus-response gap is the moment between something happening and your reaction to it, taken as the point where a different response can still be chosen. The idea is often attributed to Viktor Frankl. On this site it is where the Sacred Pause is practised.

Definition

In contemplative psychology, the stimulus-response gap is the interval between a stimulus and the reaction it sets off: the window in which a person can still notice, hold back and choose before habit answers for them. On this site the term names a point of practice, not a measured quantity.

Origin

The famous three-sentence wording is often attributed to Viktor Frankl, but it is not in his published works. Quote Investigator, which traced it in 2018, reports that Stephen R. Covey popularised the line and disclaimed authorship: Covey said he had met the idea in a library book whose title and author he could not recall, and he printed the three-sentence form in the 1994 book First Things First, which he co-wrote. Quote Investigator's best candidate for what Covey read is a 1963 article by the psychologist Rollo May, which speaks of a human capacity to pause between stimulus and response. In his 1989 bestseller The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Covey had already told Frankl's camp story in stimulus-and-response terms without presenting it as a Frankl quotation, which may be how the line drifted to Frankl.

Primary source

• Quote Investigator, Quote Origin: Between Stimulus and Response There Is a Space… (18 February 2018): the passage has not been found in Frankl's works; Covey popularised it, disclaimed authorship and printed the three-sentence form in 1994; a 1963 article by Rollo May is the best candidate for his source. Open-access copy

Stefan's Alkimia. (2026, October 4). Stimulus-Response Gap. Pleroma Guide. https://pleroma.guide/en/lexicon/stimulus-response-gap

Stefan's Alkimia. “Stimulus-Response Gap.” Pleroma Guide, 4 Oct. 2026, pleroma.guide/en/lexicon/stimulus-response-gap.

Stefan's Alkimia. “Stimulus-Response Gap.” Pleroma Guide. April 21, 2026. Last modified October 4, 2026. https://pleroma.guide/en/lexicon/stimulus-response-gap.

@online{alkimia2026stimulusresponsegap,
  author = {{Stefan's Alkimia}},
  title = {{Stimulus-Response Gap}},
  organization = {{Pleroma Guide}},
  date = {2026-04-21},
  year = {2026},
  note = {Last modified 2026-10-04},
  url = {https://pleroma.guide/en/lexicon/stimulus-response-gap},
  langid = {english}
}