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

Abstract

Background/Study Context: Research suggests that mental representations of time encompass multiple distinct aspects that vary with age, but prior studies rarely assessed more than one aspect of time perception and did not systematically consider relevant covariates. This lack of integration across studies hampers theory building and limits a deeper understanding of underlying constructs.

Methods: Five widely used and conceptually distinct measures of time perception (i.e., perceived life position, global future horizons, future orientation and planning, self-continuity, and the temporal extension of episodic future thought) were administered to a demographically stratified adult life-span sample. Theoretically implicated covariates, including cognition, current affect, personality, and subjective health, were also assessed.

Results: Principle component analyses suggested a four-component solution. Perceived life position and global future horizons formed a single component reflecting subjective life span; the remaining measures each constituted separate components. The life span component and episodic future thought were negatively associated with age, self-continuity was positively associated with age, and future orientation did not vary by age. Among the covariates, mental and physical health showed the most pronounced associations with time perceptions, but the direction of effects varied across components.

Conclusion: Findings suggest that mental representations of time encompass multiple components that show distinct age patterns and associations with covariates. Implications for theory building and practical applications are discussed.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

We thank the members of the Healthy Aging Laboratory at Cornell University for help with data analysis and coding and Anthony Ong and Nathan Spreng for their comments.

Notes

¹ Of course, perceptions of time encompass both the past and the future (Lewin, 1951). However, past perceptions draw heavily on age differences in memory processes, which have been the focus of decades of intensive research (for reviews, see Craik & Salthouse, 2008; Salthouse, 2010). The present study therefore prioritizes age differences in perceptions and conceptualizations of future time, which remain comparatively underexplored.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported in part by the Lois and Mel Tukman Endowed Assistant Professorship and by National Institute of Aging (NIA) grant 1R21AG043741 awarded to Corinna Löckenhoff.