TIME PERSPECTIVE - TEMPORAL EXTENSION, TIME-ESTIMATION, AND IMPULSIVITY

It has been proposed that time perspective is an important variable th at can, in part, explain the differences between people in terms of th e development of self-control. One corollary of this position is that time perspective is somehow related to systematic biases in the way pe ople perceive the passage of time. Such a bias may or may not be augme nted by an association between time perspective and impulsivity. Two s tudies were conducted using measures of temporal extension, time estim ation, and impulsivity. In general, no consistent effects were found. Neither time perspective nor impulsivity was related to any characteri stic pattern of errors. In the second study, time perspective (mediate d by age) was associated with predicting very brief time estimation sc ores, but not longer time estimation periods. It was concluded that wh atever the mechanism might be that underlies the purported effect betw een time perspective and self-control, it is not related to a differen tial ability to perceive time moving more or less quickly.