Age Patterns in Mental Representations of Time: Underlying Constructs and Relevant Covariates

Susceptibility to default effects does not differ by age

Decision makers are more likely to passively accept than to actively reject preselected default options. Age differences in such "default effects" have not been systematically examined, but prior research reports age-related variation in several known determinants of default effects suggesting that they may be more common in older as compared to younger adults. To address this question, a representative life span sample (N = 500; Mage = 49.90, SDage = 19.34; 51% female, 49% male; 67% non-Hispanic White) responded to a preregistered online study. Participants completed a default effect task comprising two conditions, one requiring opt-out and one requiring opt-in decisions (i.e., 15 vs. 0 preselected features each). Susceptibility to defaults was assessed as the discrepancy between the number of features selected within each condition. In addition, we collected data on known determinants of default effects (i.e., perceived endowment, endorsement, ease, experience making similar choices, importance of the choice, and affective responses to the choice). Finally, we screened demographic background, personality, socioemotional and health status, and cognitive ability. Susceptibility to default effects was evident both at the individual and the group level. Unlike hypothesized, older age did not predict greater susceptibility to defaults, and older adults were less likely to endorse determinants of default effect compliance. Of the covariates assessed, only identifying as non-Hispanic White, greater perceived endorsement, greater perceived ease, and lower perceived importance of making the right choice predicted decision makers' susceptibility to default effects. Thus, our findings suggest that susceptibility to decision defaults does not vary by age. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Time for work: Analyzing the role of time perspectives in work attitudes and behaviors

Previous research has provided strong evidence for a pronounced role of time perspective (TP) in various areas of human functioning, including cognitive processes, mental and physical health, environmental behaviors, and relationship quality. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of individual differences in TP in work-related attitudes and behaviors. In a sample of 200 office workers, we administered a set of questionnaires measuring TPs, job satisfaction, work engagement, Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) and Counterproductive Work Behavior (CWB). Additionally, we controlled for the Big Five personality traits which may be related to the work-related outcomes of interest. Analyses of the data revealed that Future-Positive TP predicted more desired work-related outcomes, i.e., higher job satisfaction, work engagement, and OCB, and lower CWB. An opposite pattern of associations was observed for Present-Fatalistic, Deviation from Balanced Time Perspective, and (partially) for Future-Negative TPs. The vast majority of these effects were still significant after controlling for personality traits. Using path modelling we also demonstrated that the effects of TPs on work behaviors (OCB and CWB) are mostly mediated by job satisfaction and engagement. The present results suggest that TP theory may prove to be a useful tool in organizational psychology for understanding individual differences in work behaviors.

Sociohistorical Change in Urban Older Adults' Perceived Speed of Time and Time Pressure

OBJECTIVES

Perceptions of time are shaped by sociohistorical factors. Specifically, economic growth and modernization often engender a sense of acceleration. Research has primarily focused on one time perception dimension (perceived time pressure) in one subpopulation (working-age adults), but it is not clear whether historical changes extend to other dimensions (e.g., perceived speed of time) and other subpopulations, such as older adults who are no longer in the workforce and experience age-related shifts in time perception. We therefore examined sociohistorical and age-related trends in two dimensions of time perception in two cohorts of urban older adults.

METHOD

Using propensity score matching for age and education, samples were drawn from the Berlin Aging Study (1990-1993, n = 256, Mage = 77.49) and the Berlin Aging Study-II (2009-2014, n = 248, Mage = 77.49). Cohort differences in means, variances, covariance, and correlates of perceived speed of time and time pressure were examined using multigroup SEM.

RESULTS

There were no cohort differences in the perceived speed of time, but later-born cohorts reported more time pressure than earlier-born cohorts. There were no significant age differences, but perceptions of speed of time were more heterogeneous in the 1990s than in the 2010s. Cohorts did not differ in how time perceptions were associated with sociodemographic, health, cognitive, and psychosocial correlates.

DISCUSSION

These findings document sociohistorical trends toward greater perceived time pressure and reduced heterogeneity in perceived speed of time among later-born urban adults. Conceptualizations of social acceleration should thus consider the whole adult life span.

Capturing Subjective Age, Subjective Life Expectancy, and Their Links With Older Adults' Health: The Dutch Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam

Objectives: This study compares the associations of two subjective lifetime perspectives, subjective age (SA) and subjective life expectancy (SLE), with physical performance, self-rated health, and depressive symptoms. Methods: 64 91-year-old participants were selected from three waves of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (2008/09, 2011/12, 2015/16; n = 1822 participants, n = 3500 observations) that included graphical and numerical measures of SA and SLE. We used generalized estimating equations to examine their associations with health. Results: Associations of SA/SLE with health were weaker for physical performance than for self-rated health and depressive symptoms. The associations of SA and SLE with physical performance were of similar magnitude but with self-rated health depended on the type of measure. Depressive symptoms, instead, showed a stronger association with SA than with SLE. Graphical measures showed weaker associations than numerical measures. Discussion: The way in which subjective lifetime perspectives and health are conceptualized and measured influences the strength of their associations.

The Mental Landscape of Imagining Life Beyond the Current Life Span: Implications for Construal and Self-Continuity

Background and Objectives

With rapid advancements in medicine, technology, and nutrition, the future holds the possibility of longer and healthier lives. Despite garnering attention from myriad disciplines, psychological perspectives on life extension are scarce. In three studies, we addressed this gap by exploring key mental characteristics and psychological variables associated with simulating an expanded life span and thus an extremely distant future self.

Research Design and Methods

Three studies investigated the construal (i.e., valence, vividness, and visual perspective) of extremely distant future simulations and the extent to which participants felt connected to their future selves (i.e., self-continuity). Studies 1 and 2 investigated the characteristics of imagery associated with different ages ranging from near the current species maximum (e.g., 120, 150) to more highly hypothetical ages (e.g., 201, 501). Study 3 probed the mental construal of extreme aging among different populations (i.e., life-extension supporters, students, and Mechanical Turk workers). Studies also assessed participants’ general feelings about the ethicality and likelihood of techniques that halt or reverse biological aging to help individuals live beyond the current life expectancy.

Results

Participants in all studies reported being able to vividly imagine expanded aging scenarios (increased chronological, without biological, and aging), but these simulations were characterized by a decreased sense of connection to one’s future self (i.e., self-continuity) compared to a control condition. Temporal distance did not, however, impact ratings of self-continuity when comparing experimental conditions (i.e., imagining one’s self 120 vs 150 or 201 vs 501). Curiously, a sense of self-continuity (when simulating oneself well beyond the current life expectancy) remained intact for individuals who belonged to a community of life-extension supporters. The perceived likelihood and ethicality of extended life-span scenarios also varied significantly across different populations.

Discussion and Implications

The current work is the first to quantify the disconnect between one’s current and extremely distant (i.e., beyond the current life expectancy) future self. Given the behavioral implications of feeling disconnected from one’s future self (e.g., failing to save for retirement or care for one’s own physical health), these findings inform a critical barrier of extended life spans and provide insight into potential remedies (e.g., enhancing the perceived likelihood of living longer). Theoretical implications of hypotheticality and temporal distance, two key dimensions of Construal Level Theory, and their impact on the construal and self-continuity associated with future simulations are also discussed.

Restricting future time perspective reduces failure to act after a missed opportunity

Inaction inertia occurs when missing an attractive opportunity (vs. not having been offered it) decreases the likelihood of acting on another similar opportunity. We experimentally manipulated future time perspective to reduce inaction inertia. Middle-aged and older adults from the Health and Retirement Study were randomly assigned to imagining restricted or expansive time left to live, or to no instructions. Across age, imagining a restricted future (vs. the other two instructions) reduced inaction inertia and future time perspective. Imagining living longer increased future time perspective among relatively younger participants. Consequences of restricted time perspective for decisions and life regrets are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Age Differences in Self-Continuity: Converging Evidence and Directions for Future Research

Life-span development is inherently linked to the perception of time and associated temporal construals. Such concepts are multi-faceted in nature and have important practical implications in areas such as time management, financial planning, or medical choices. A large body of research has documented age-related limitations in global time horizons, but age differences in other aspects of temporal construal are comparatively poorly understood. The present article draws attention to developmental trajectories of self-continuity, defined as perceived associations of one's present self with past and future selves. After considering historical roots and contemporary views on self-continuity, we turn to the life-span developmental literature and review several convergent streams of research that provide indirect evidence for age-related increases in self-continuity. We then consider a small body of recent studies which have directly assessed age differences in self-continuity and summarize our current understanding of this phenomenon including associations between explicit and implicit measures, symmetry between past and future self-continuity, and differentiation from other aspects of time perception. We conclude by highlighting open theoretical questions and considering the practical implications of an increased sense of self-continuity with advancing age.