Culture and beliefs about time: Comparisons among black Americans, black Africans, and white Americans

The authors investigated the extent to which racial factors, cultural facto rs, or both influence a person's beliefs about physical time, personal time , and experienced and remembered duration. A total of 750 Black American, B lack African, and White American students responded to a questionnaire on t hese beliefs about time. Factor analysis was used to compare belief structu res. Pairwise comparisons, performed separately for each statement, tested the direction and strength of the reported beliefs. The groups showed many similarities, but they also showed some differences. All 3 groups differed in beliefs about physical and personal time, but they did not differ in bel iefs about duration experiences. This evidence does not support simplistic views of racial or cultural influences. Culture may differentially influenc e beliefs about physical time and personal time. Beliefs about duration exp eriences may represent an etic factor that transcends cultures.