Allocating time to people and pets: Correlates with income and well-being in a midwest community sample

The authors investigated the allocation of social time to self, family, fri ends, and pets; they explored the associations between these time allocatio ns and 2 measures of well-being in a group of 173 community-dwelling men an d women, 35 to 55 years old. Results indicated that time allocation was str ongly related to income, that individuals with high incomes spent more time with family, and that time spent with pets was second only to time spent w ith family. Time allocations were related to a measure of negative mood for men. Time allocations were independent of positive and negative well-being measures for women, but time spent with pets was related to negative mood in men. The findings are discussed in relation to the emerging importance o f income and time use in middle-aged persons.