Time flies: Investigating the connection between intrinsic motivation and the experience of time

The present study investigated the relationship between intrinsic motivatio n and the subjective experience of time passing. The Work Preference Invent ory, which measures trait intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, was administe red to 75 undergraduate participants. Measures of time awareness, time esti mation, checking of time, and perceived speed of time were collected using the experience sampling method. Participants carried electronic schedulers for five days and completed questionnaires each time the scheduler sounded (eight times per day). Results showed that higher intrinsic motivation was associated with checking and thinking about time less often, a subjective e xperience of time passing more quickly, and more of a tendency to lose trac k of time. The experience of time awareness was accompanied by a subjective sense of time moving slowly, a tendency to overestimate the time, and a mo re negative affective experience. These findings suggest that time percepti on is an important dimension of motivational experience.