Abstract
The purpose of this study is to systematically investigate the individual-differences factors related to time awareness in everyday life. Three hundred and nine individuals in China, from 14- to 75-year old, were sampled to complete a questionnaire that consists of instruments measuring time awareness, meaning in life, achievement motivation, affective state and perceived remaining lifetime. The results showed that meaning in life positively predicted present passage-of-time judgment but not retrospective passage-of-time judgment. Meaning in life mediated the effects of achievement motivation and affective state on present passage-of-time judgment. Moreover, perceived remaining lifetime played a role in the associations by moderating the effect of achievement motivation on meaning in life. The findings aligned with socioemotional selectivity theory, which explains that people shift from knowledge-related goals to emotion-related goals as the end of life becomes imminent.
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Zheng, X., Wang, W. Whose Time Flies: Meaning in Life Influences Time Awareness. J Adult Dev 27, 249–257 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10804-020-09347-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10804-020-09347-z