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Self-Worth, Future Goals, Mood And Time Perception

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Self-Worth, Future Goals, Mood And Time Perception

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Content This dissertation has been
microfilmed exactly as received
69-4542
PROCTOR, Peter Prince, 1935-
SELF-WORTH, FUTURE GOALS, MOOD AND
TIME PERCEPTION.
University of Southern California, Ph.D., 1968
Psychology, clinical
University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, M ichigan
© Copyright by-
Peter Prince Proctor
1969 |
SELF-WORTH, FUTURE GOALS, MOOD AND
TIME PERCEPTION
by
Peter Prince Proctor
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(Psychology)
August 1968
UNIVERSITY O F S O U T H E R N CA LIFO RN IA
TH E GRADUATE SC H O O L
UNIVERSITY PARK
LO S ANGELES. CA LIFO RN IA 9 0 0 0 7
This dissertation, written by
...... P . e sr. . p e la o © . . P r . opt ©r.......
under the direction of h.is ... Dissertation Com
mittee, and approved by all its members, has
been presented to and accepted by the Graduate
School, in partial fulfillment of requirements
for the degree of
D O C TO R OF P H IL O S O P H Y
' 797^ °
v Dean
j ) a t e August, 1968
DISSERTATION COMMITTEE
Chairman
SELF-WORTH, FUTURE GOALS, MOOD, AND
TIME PERCEPTION
Problem
Theoretical Setting
Various psychological aspects of time perception
have been dealt with in a number of published reports. In
this paper a time perception theory which tries to
account for these diverse psychological factors is pre-
i
j
j sented, along with a report of a correlational study which
tested the hypotheses generated from the theory. This
theory links time perception to feelings of self-worth
i through the intervening variables of future goals and
mood. The basic idea is that feelings of self-worth have
i
a direct influence on future goal striving and mood; that
future goals and future goal striving also have a direct
relationship to mood; and finally, that mood influences
time perception,
i The ideas concerning self-worth, future goals and
mood were strongly influenced by Erikson's (1959) concep
tion of ego identity. He sees this as self-esteem which
evolves from two basic processes: one is the personal
identity which comes from the simultaneous perception of
oneself as having continuity in time and the observation
that others recognize this continuity; the other is the j
i
j
ego synthesis that occurs when a growing child realizes j
j
that his individual form of behavior is in accord with the
group "space-time" and "life plan." Self-esteem grows as
the individual^ in each successive psychosexual stage, j
learns that he is taking effective, tangible steps toward
his personal future goals which are positive variants j
of a group identity. Self-esteem is directly related to j
mood and to routine daily actions. This daily routine !
forms what Erickson (1959) calls the psychology of the j
middle range where a person is neither depressed nor j
1 " i
elated.
The theoretical conceptualizations of Lewin (1942,
1951) also played a part in the formation of the time
perception theory presented in this paper. Lewin,
building on Prank's (1939) concept of time perception,
presented evidence indicating that the actions, emotions
land mood of an individual depended on his total (past,
present and future) time perspective. Lewin held that the
isetting up of future goals is closely related to time per
spective. He pointed out, that, when a person loses future
goals, he stops reaching out, planning, even wishing for a
ibetter future. His time perspective and his acts
j
jbecome present-oriented. This in turn affects the mood of
Jthe individual. A positive time perspective and worth
while future goals were seen by Lewin as two basic elements
3
of high morale.
The phenomenological-existential position on time
also affected the time perception theory presented here.
From the standpoint of categorical phenomenology, as
expounded by Ellenberger (1958), the inner world of a
i
i
person can be reconstructed using different categories to j
describe the psychological aspects of his perception. The
two basic categories for this are time and space. People
were seen as dealing with time in different ways. One j
i
example given by Ellenberger concerned the activist who j
I
| must fill every minute with great amounts of activity. •
!
Also, people experience tirm ; flowing with a certain
speed and this experience can be modified by emotional
| conditions such as anxiety, boredom, depression or elationJ
The existential position is similar to Lewin's in that the
flowing of time was seen to be. automatically structured
into past, present and future. Minkowski (1933) gave a
detailed breakdown of this time structure and he used time
perception as an element in his attempts to define a
basic disturbance from which all the symptoms of a patient
could be deduced. In his explanation of Binswanger's
Daseinanalyse, May (1958) held that a distinctive
contribution of existential analysts was their placement
of time in the center of the psychological picture with
the immediate future, rather than the present or
the past, as the dominant time sense. The normal individual
generally looks toward the immediate future. The
inability to have a future causes anxiety and depression.
Thus, the time perception theory presented here
was built on the foundation laid by Erikson (1959)* Lewin
(19^£, 1951)* and the existential analysts (such as
Ellenberger, 1958; Minkowski, 1933; May 1959)* All
these sources provided a greater understanding of the
basic elements of this time perception theory. These
elements are self-worth, future goals, mood, and time
perception. These factors all have two parts: a stable,
Hong labting element and a more volatile, transient
aspect. The type of relationships among the parts depends
on whether the stable or transient aspects are being
stressed. These basic elements need further elaboration.
- Basic Self-Worth
The feeling of basic self-worth is the first
element of this theory to be considered. It is seen as a
broad underlying personality characteristic which affects
perception and behavior. It is a long-term general self-
concept or self-perception. One person’s basic sense of
self-worth might consist of feelings of utter inferiority
and inadequacy while someone else could have strong
realistic feeling of competency and self-worth.
An individual's basic sense of self-worth is
derived from the interaction of instinctual forces and
5
interpersonal relationships with significant individuals.
These feelings are formed at a relatively early age and
tend to be very stable. In many instances the person is
not aware of the situations which created this basic
h
self-concept nor how these feelings can influence his j
J
j
perception. This lack of awareness is one of the reasons j
why a poor basic sense of self-worth is so difficult to
• change without some kind of corrective emotional exper
ience. Even with such experiences changes occur slowly.
The person who feels basically inferior often changes his
| perception of the world around him in such a way as to
j make his concept self-fulfilling. For example, he may
| minimize real achievements-so that his accomplishments ~ j
| i
are seen in a negative light. If he does accept the fact
he did a good job he often is afraid of failure next time.
i
A_ person also has a number of transient feelings j
of self-worth which vary with the ups and downs of daily
living. However, the overall trend for these transient
concepts of self-worth is governed by the basic feelings
of self-worth. If the latter are good then the former i
will tend to be positive more often_than not and vice
versa. An individual is often aware of his transient
feelings of self-worth.
Future Goals
The seeond basic element in this theory of time
perception involves future goals. Their specific eontent j
________
; " ' ' ' ' . ' " 6
can cover a wide variety of subjects including an
individual’ s goals regarding his relationships with
others. People are consciously aware of some of them,
though they may not be clearly spelled out and they may
have unconscious elements. On the other hand, they may
not be aware of other goals which affect behavior.
There are two general types of future goals.
First the long-range goals which are the ones that a
person wants to achieve in the distant future. They are
relatively stable over time. Second, the short-term
goals. These are also divided into two general types.
| One type involves long-range subgoals, which if actively
\ and successfully worked on, will eventually lead to the
achievement of the more distant future goals. The other
type is composed of the current daily living goals which
i '
are necessary for the day to day existence but are not
necessarily directly connected with reaching long-term
goals. Short-term goals are usually more flexible than
the long-range ones and can often be switched with rela
tive ease, especially if a comparable substitute is
available.
Moods
Moods are another element in this perception
theory. Moods cover a number of emotional states, such as
anxiety and anger, although the present study focuses on
the depression-elation mood continum. Moods can be
I 7
divided into long- and short-range categories. The basic
mood is the one that subject generally feels even though -
there are times when he feels better and times when he
feels worse. The general level tends to be constant over
a long period of time. The current mood is a person's
mood at any given time and it can vary markedly.
Time Perception
The final basic element of the theory is time
perception. This factor has a number of different
i
j categories all of which can be divided into two parts, a
i
i long-term part which is made up of a person’s usual time j
perceptions and a short-term one which is more variable.
The time perception factors evaluated in this study are:
j
! (a) time estimation which is a subject's estimation of a j
given length of time; (b) subjective evaluation which is
the subjective evaluation of the speed with which a given
interval seemed to pass (a short-term measure) or the
speed with which time usually passes for the individual
(a long-term phenomenological measure); and (c) time
orientation which is~broken down into future, present,
past and confused orientations.
Interrelationships
The relationships among the four basic parts of
the theory need further elaboration. Basic feelings of
self-worth lead to the setting of long-term realistic
future goals rather than goals that are either too high
j or too low. In addition, they lead to a good basic mood,
j Future goals are also directly related to mood. Long-term
| realistic future goals create a positive basic mood while
their absence cause an over-all depressive mood. Mood,
in turn, has a direct influence on time perception. The
main time perception variables studied in this paper were
time estimation and subjective evaluation. A good basic
mood leads to shorter time estimations and the subjective
- feeling that time is passing quickly. In addition, the
theory holds that basic self-worth, mood and future goals
are all correlated with future time orientation. In
general, pleasant emotional states lead to future orien
tations, shorter time estimations, and the subjective
1 experience that time is passing quickly while unpleasant
i
emotions lead to opposite reactions.
i
In order to understand the relationships among
the four short-term elements of the theory they must be
explained in terras of their interaction with the long
term aspects. When both a basic sense of self-worth and
long-range future goals are present, short-term future
goals tend to be realistic, accompanied by positive
current mood and feelings of self-worth. Moreover, the
successful achievement of current goals can cause an
increase in the immediate sense of self-worth and mood.
In some instances it also leads to an increase in other
short-term future goals. These events all help create a !
9
positive emotional state which in turn has an effect on
time perception. A poor basic sense of self-worth, a
lack of long-range future goals, or unsuccessful current
goal striving generally leads to_the opposite reactions.
Thus, while everyone has day to day fluctuations
in his feelings these variations can take place without
changing the long-range basic factors. On the other hand,
a basic sense of self-worth and realistic long-term
future goals have the broad effect of raising the subjec
tive base rate for mood and time perception so that the
mood will generally be positive and time will usually seem
' |
to pass quickly in spite of daily variations. As the
basic sense of self-worth drops, the average perceptual
| outlook changes towards lower moods, slower time percep-
i
tion, and a more restricted' future orientation. These
day to day short-term changes vary more in accordance
with reality factors in people with a basic sense of
self-worth.
t
The intensity of short-term mood variations needs
to be taken into consideration in order to understand
fully the relationships among the elements of this time
.
theory. When an individual is in a mild emotional state
the long-term basic factors are the ones that exert the
main influence on time perception, though the short-term
aspects also play a part. As the immediate emotional
state gets very intense, in either a positive or negative
10
direction, it takes precedence in time perception even
though the long-term basic factors may affect other
aspects of perception and behavior. The long-term
elements, and the short-term self-worth and future goal
aspects, no longer play a major part because the intensity
of the emotional state makes it seem as if they were j
equated for everyone in the situation as far as time
perception is concerned. For example, if a group of
people find themselves having to wait while in great
!
danger, the anxiety aroused by this will dominate to the
| extent that time will pass slowly for everyone regardless
! of differences in self-worth or future goals. In relation
! to time perception, the situation makes these differences
irrelevant because the strong emotion blots out the future
and becomes all-pervasive in the present. It should be
obvious from this discussion that the prediction of
results should take into account whether a long- or short
term measure is being used, as well as the emotional state
of the subject.
!
| Previous Studies
Self-Worth and Future Goals
There are studies which have shown that the
greater the feeling of self-worth the higher the future
goal as measured by occupational choice. Schutz and
Blocher (1961) showed a significant positive correlation
between the level of occupational choice and a measure of
11
self-satisfaction (the greater the self-satisfaction the
higher the occupational choice). A high negative correla
tion between the level of occupational choice, as measured
by Strong (19^3) occupational level scale (OL) and an
index of satisfaction with chronic unemployment was
reported by Barnett, Handelsman, Stewart, and Super (1952),
As O.L. scores increased, the magnitude of expressed
i
satisfaction with vagrancy declined. Holland (1959)
stated that within a given class of occupations the
height of the level of choice was due to intelligence and
| self-evaluation. The higher the level of intelligence
i
i and self-satisfaction the higher the occupational choice.
A report by Burnstein (1963) showed that, as fear of
i
failure increased, the prestige of the occupations the
subjects proposed to try for in adult life significantly
decreased. High self-accepting subjects were found to be
more confident, had less anxiety and set higher levels of
aspiration (Mitchell, 1959)* In a study done by Bills
(1953) high self-acceptance subjects gave significantly
higher estimations of past performances on level-of-
aspiration tests and were more confident about their
performances. Since no figures were given as to the
comparative accuracy of the judgments, it is impossible
to tell whether or not their evaluations were realistic.
He also found a significant correlation with self-accept
ance on one of the five level-of-aspiration tests given |
12
to his subjects.
Self-Worth and Mood
There are also several studies (ftLbring, 1953;
Jacobson, 1961) that reported a positive correlation
between mood and self-worth. Penichel (1945) commented
on the depressed patient's drop in self-esteem following
the loss of a love object. The loss of self-esteem and
1
the slowing of time in depressed patients was noted by-
White (1959). Working with normal subjects7 Wessman and
! Ricks (1966) found that less happy people had trouble at
; 1
! Erikson's (1959) basic trust stage, felt unloved and j
empjty, had poor self-concepts, and while they were more
I ambitious they were less likely to succeed. There was a
!
significant correlation between mood and clinical judgment
of maturity. Happy people felt comfortable in close
relationships and found this area important in addition to
their academic studies. They enjoyed competition and had
a vigorous insistence on goals. The happy subjects had a
satisfying sense of identity, ego strength and high self
esteem.
Future Goals, Future Orientation, and Mood
Future goals and future time perspective have
been related to mood in a number of experiments. Both
Field (1931) and Farber (1944) found that the degree of
pain and suffering in prison was correlated most with
factors involving future outlook. Two reports Indicated I
that a person’s current mood was usually more Influenced
by his future time perspective than by current situations
(Israeli* 1932; Farber, 1953)* In contrasting high and
low academic achievers* Teahan (1958) reported greater
future reference and more extensive future time perspec- !
tive for the former. Optimism was related to future time i
i
extension. These results fit with those of Wessraan and j
Ricks (1966) who showed that for the happy subject the
future looked bright and the passage of time was filled j
working towards goals requiring a long steady pull; while
unhappy people saw a dark future* shied away from long
term commitment* found time boring and slow* and took a
passive stance* going into the future from necessity
rather than choice. Some clinical descriptions of depres
sion gave as a precipitating cause the interruption of
progress toward a goal (Bull & Strongin* 1956; Cattell*
1957) and noted a feeling of hopelessness regarding the
attainment of a goal (Lichtenberg* 1957)* Minkowski
I(1923) found that the future appeared inaccessible or
;blocked for depressed patients and that the experience of
i
!time was slowed or arrested.
;Mood and Time Perception
I
i The present theory holds that mood affects time
perception. Depression is thought to cause time to drag*
while elation speeds up its phenomenological passage.
Conversely* Fogel and Hoffer (1962)* found that subjects
given post-hypnotic suggestions that time was passing
quickly experienced a mood elevation and when told that
time was passing slowly they became depressed. These two
authors suggested that mood vras dependent on time percep
tions rather than the other way around. Their study does
not necessarily resolve the issue since they did not give j
i
i
their subjects hypnotic suggestions of depression or ela
tion to see if this would also alter time perception.
Langer, Wapner and Werner (1961) experimentally varied the
danger experienced by a subject. As the danger increased,
| time passed more slowly (an interval of time was over-
! i
| estimated). While it can be argued that the danger caused
| a change in time perception, which in turn caused a change
in mood (increased fear and anxiety), from an introspec
tive standpoint the outstanding feature in these situa
tions is usually a change in mood rather than a change in
time perception. The goals or set of the hypnotized
subject needs exploring. A subject who just barely has
time to finish an important project may react very
differently to the suggestion that time is passing quickly
than one who is bored with the experiment and wants to :
leave. Further experimental work is needed on the com
plex relationship between goals, mood and time perception
as most studies simply show a co-variance exists.
Three studies (Solomon, 1950; Hoffer & Osmond,
1961; and Mezey & Cohen, 1961) reported that time moved
x5
more slowly for depressed than for non-depressed subjects.
There are studies relating overestimation of an interval
i
of time to anxiety (Falk & Bindra, 1 9 5 Siegman, 1962a).
However, Cohen and Mezey (1961) noted that anxious people
experience either a slowing down or speeding up of time.
Although the present study was not designed to determine
the cause and effect relationship between mood and time
perception, it yields an assessment of the correlation
!
!
between mood and time perception in subjects who are not
undergoing severe experimental stress conditions.
I 1
! Future Goals and Time Perception ;
i
A link between future goals and time perception
is provided by some experiments with need-achievement.
1
| A ranking of occupations according to prestige appears to
j meet McClelland's (McClelland, Atkinson, Clark & Lowell,
1953) criterion for measuring need-achievement, namely !
that the higher the prestige score the greater the amount ]
of competition with a standard of excellence. McClelland j
et. al. noted that need-achievement can be measured in '
terms of long-term involvement in working toward a goal.
Kausler and Trapp (1958) reported that people with high
need-achievement set high levels of aspiration and Knapp
and Garbutt (1958) have described experiments which
relate high need-achievement to a preference for metaphors
or adjectives that describe the passage of time as being
swift rather than slow. Thus, there is further evidence j
16
supporting the hypothesis that time passes quickly for
people with high future goals. If the assumed connection
between future goals, prestige level, and need for
achievement is correct, those working toward higher
prestige level jobs will have greater future goals and a
stronger need for achievement. “ S
j More direct evidence of the link between distant
I
future goals and the subjective experience of time as
passing quickly is provided by two experiments. One, by
Siegman (1962b), found a significant correlation between
; a more distant future time perspective and a preference
j
for metaphors which describe time as passing quickly. The
subjects were asked to rank the metaphors on the basis of
i
I their correlation with the way time usually passes for the
subject. The other is an experiment by Baer, Wukaseh,
|
and Goldstone(1963) in which medical students were asked !
to say whether varying lengths of time were shorter or 1
j
longer than one second. This information was used to
divide the subjects into three groups: overestimators,
| accurate estimators and underestimators. All subjects
were given level of aspiration tests. On the Cassel
Group Level of Aspiration Test (Cassel, 1957)j which
involves a temporal component, overestimators had a lower
ed and less accurate level of aspiration. Thus, even in
a group in which all members can be assumed to have high
future goals, those who had lower levels of aspiration
17
tended to overestimate time. A relative over-estimation
of time is usually seen as evidence that time is passing
at a slower rate for the overestimators.
The Phenomenological Meaning of Time Estimation
The Baer et. al. (1963) study brings up the
question of the subjective meaning of a comparative over
estimation of a time interval. Levine and Spivack (1959)*
and Wallace and Rabin (i960), along with many other
experimenters, assume that if a subject in comparison with
I
other subjects overestimates an interval, then time
j passes at a slower rate for him. If the interval is |
j relatively underestimated, it is assumed that time passes j
1 1
I quickly. However, Siegman (1961) interpreted the signifi-
1
j
cantly s h o r t :r estimations of army prisoners as an indica
tion that time passed more "slowly" for the deliauents.
1
From a comrnon-sense standpoint the opposite interpretation j
seems better. To use an extreme example, if a subject 1
i
estimates a minute as -n hour, one is inclined to say that
the time passed slowly for this subject, while if he
estimates an hour as a minute, it seems reasonable to
assume that the time passed quickly during the hour.
Schonbach (1959) did find that, in general, the longer the
i
estimation of an interval the slower the time passed
subjectively, as marked on a rating scale. However, only
in one instance did the results reach a significant level
and in this case there was a reversal of the trend. The
18
subjects in this group tended to feel that the time was
long* decided it could not have been that long and
lowered their estimates of the interval while indicating
on the rating scale that the time passed very slowly.
i
Proctor (1962), using emotionally disturbed adolescents I
i
as subjects, found generally non-significant correlations j
i
between estimations of a given time interval and the
ratings on a subjective scale of the speed with which
time passed during the interval. Both positive and nega
tive correlations were obtained despite the fact that
j
! those who behaviorally acted out, experienced time as |
1 ■
| passing more slowly on the subjective rating scale.
1
i
I Denial and Self-Report Measures
i |
| With some people the use of denial, repression,
i
] and other similar defensive mechanisms is part of a basic
j
I life style which leads them to give overly positive self-
| report statements. While conscious lying is not
i
1
necessarily involved, the subject usually has some
vague awareness of his positive set, even though he is
not cognizant of its broad pervasiveness nor of its
unconscious dynamic causes. These people are, however,
giving accurate phenomenological- reports in spite of the
fact that in many instances they do not correctly reflect
the individual's real life situation. Similar views were
presented in two other papers. Rogers (Rogers & Dymond,
195^) held that, with most measures of the phenomenal
19
field, low scorers represented poor adjustment while high
scorers were divided into a group with true inner comfort
and maturity and a group of highly defensive or paranoid
individuals. In Block and Thomas’s (1955) conceptualiza
tion, subjects who selectively bound and discharged their
tensions in accord with reality situations fell in the
i
middle range while undercontrollers tended to give
extreme negative self-statements and overcontrollers
(who use denial and repression) made extreme positive
(
I ones.
|
| The importance of denial in personality inven
tories was stressed by Welsh (19^5) in his discussion of
the repression factor and by Hathaway (1939) who noted
the ultraperfect way psychopaths responded to the
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
questions. A number of studies, which used MMPI denial
scales, give experimental evidence of the effect of
denial. For example, the L, K and Dn scales have all
been employed in the repression end of scale refinements
in experiments relating perceptual defense to the repres-
sion-sensitization continuum (Lazarus, Ericksen & Fonda,
1951; Eriksen & Davids, 1955; Gordon, 1957; Altrocchi,
Parsons, Dickoff, I960; Byrne, 1961; Byrne, Barry &
Nelson, 1963). There are several other studies which used
these scales to show that repressors got lower anxiety
scores when self-report measures were used, while scoring
20
higher on anxiety tests that utilized non-self-reporting
indices such as reaction time, or physiological measures
(Lazarus & Alfret, 1964; Lomont, 1965; and Hare, 1966).
Moreover, Ullmann (1962) found high correlations between
groups selected, on the basis of case histories, for
repression-sensitization and the Byrne (1961) MMPI measure
of this factor.
The denial problem also appears in interviewing
and goal-setting situations. For example, Lewin and Ross
(i960) noted that about 10$ of the prospective students
- |for psychoanalytic institutes presented a "facade of
I
|normality" which indicated a- lack of awareness of their
iown feelings. The facade often covered over deep-seated
I
jproblems and a tendency to have grandiose future goals.
|In general high denial subjects tended to set future
I
(goals that were too high. If the goals were not reached,
very little was lost since no one really expected the
goal to be achieved. _ People who were low in feelings of
self-worth, and were not high in their use of denial,
tended to set goals which were too low. Although they
did not mention denial, a similar view in regard to goal-
setting was held by Atkinson (1957) and by Lewin (1942).
The latter author added that the successful person
usually flexibly sets his next goal a little above his
last achievement, even though in the long run he is
guided by his ideal goal. Sears (l94l) and Bumstein
(1963) both found experimental evidence supporting the
positions held by Lewin (1942) and Atkinson (1957)*
Denial can also influence mood ratings. Wessman
and Ricks (1966) reported that the happier the mood, the
smaller the clinical scale levels on the MMPI, and the
higher the psychologists' ranking of suppression and con- i
cealment. On the other hand, there was a negative corre
lation between L scores and an average of the subjects’
daily peak mood. The issue is clouded by the fact that
no attempt was made to account for Or vary the level of
I
I denial. For example, they did not give the actual levels j
1
l
j on the L and K scores. If an analysis had been made of
1
!
i the subjects with scores high enough to put them in the
i
denial range, this trend might have been reversed.
From the studies reported in this section it was
concluded that subjects who were high in denial would have
test indications of a good sense of basic self-worth, high
future goals, and a good mood. Their goals, however,
would often be unrealistically high. Furthermore, since
they could be covering over depression feelings with
their denial, the relationship of mood with time percep
tion might be the reverse of the one predicted for non
defensive subjects. As these conclusions were predicted
on the assumption that very defensive subjects had been
used, they could be checked only if the sample used in
the present study happened to yield enough defensive
22
subjects to make a separate analysis possible.
Hypotheses
Major and Minor Hypotheses
The studies presented in the previous section
gave empirical evidence which supported the proposed time
perception theory regarding self-worth, future goals^
mood and time perception. Using this theory a number of
specific hypotheses were made concerning the relation
ships among its basic elements. The time perception
element was divided into three parts: time estimation,
subjective evaluation of the speed with which time passes,j
and time orientation. Since time orientation was not
! given detailed consideration in the time perception theory
the measures of this aspect were included in the study
as a means of exploring its relationships with the main
i
elements of the theory.
The specific predicted correlations are subdivided
into major and minor hypotheses. This was done on the
basis of three factors: the type of test used, the type |
of correlation involved, and the element of the theory
being predicted. Thus, time orientation predictions
were considered minor hypotheses because this aspect of
the theory was included in the study for exploratory
purposes only. All intertest correlations were placed in
the minor hypotheses category. The intertest correla
tions among the four time estimation scores would be an
23
illustration of this type of correlation. Finally, there
were two types of tests placed in the minor hypotheses
category. One was made up of tests included for control
purposes, and the other included the test scores that
had to be obtained in order to arrive at the main score
used to measure a basic element. In the methods section
all of the test scores are designated as tests used in
major hypotheses or tests used in minor hypotheses.
Major Predictions
Self-worth. (1) A positive correlation between
j
| self-worth and realistic future goals. (2) A positive
i
correlation between self-worth and basic mood.
Future goals. A positive correlation between
long range realistic future goals and basic mood.
Mood, (l) A negative correlation between basic
mood and time estimation. (2) A positive correlation
between basic mood and the subjective evaluation of the
passage of time.
Time perception. A negative correlation between
time estimation and the subjective evaluation of the
passage of time.
Minor Predictions.
Self-worth. (1) Positive correlations among the
self-worth measures.
(2) Positive correlations between the minor self'
worth measures and the measures of both future goals and
24
mood.
(3) Positive correlations among self-worth
measures and future orientation scales.
Future goals. (1) Positive correlations among
the measures of future goals.
(2) Positive correlations among future orienta
tion tests and future goal measures.
Mood. (1) Positive correlations among the mood
measures.
(2) Positive correlations among the minor mea
sures of mood and the subjective time scales.
(3) Negative correlations among the minor mood
scales and the time estimation tests.
(4) Positive correlations among the mood scales
and the future orientation scales.
Time perception. (1) Positive correlations
among the time estimation measures.
(2) Positive correlations among the subjective
evaluation measures.
(3) Positive correlations among the future
orientation measures.
(4) Negative correlations among the minor tests
of time estimation and the subjective time passage scales.
Denial. (1) Positive correlations among the
denial measures.
(2) Subjects who used denial and repression as
25
a major defense mechanism would have a future orientation,
and would report overly high future goals, moods, and
feelings of self-worth. These predictions were to be
tested only if enough subjects scored in the high
defensive range to analyze them as a separate group.
Method
Subjects
The subjects used in this study consisted of 40
male patients in Veterans Administration Hospital, 13 of
which were from a psychiatric and 27 from general medical
| and surgical facilities. All of the subjects were
|
| volunteers. _
i
i Diagnoses
i
| None of the patients had any known or suspected
i
organic damage to the central nervous system.
The patients in the general medical and surgical
hospitals did not carry any psychiatric diagnoses. These
patients were selected on the basis of their availability
for testing.
In order to obtain a wide mood range depressed
patients were selected from the psychiatric hospital.
Manic patients were not used to represent the extreme
elation end of the mood continuum as their elation is
basically a means of warding off strong depressive
feelings. The admitting physician, the ward physician,
and the head nurse all had to agree that the patient was
26
very depressed.
The breakdown of the psychiatric diagnoses were
as follows:
Psychotic depression: 6.
Neurotic depression: 2.
Schizophrenic reaction with depression: 2.
Anxiety reaction: 2.
Schizophrenic reaction, schizo-affective type: 1.
One psychiatric subject was too confused to do
the tasks properly and two others were unable or un-
j willing to finish a number of the tests. These three
subjects were not included in the study.
Race
i
The racial breakdown was as follows: 37 Caucasian
subjects, two Negroes, and one Puerto Rican.
Social Class
A prestige score developed by Reiss et. al.
(1961) was given to the subjects' actual jobs. These
scores ranged from a low of 44 (janitor) to a high of 85
(engineer) with a mean of 65 (plumber, policeman, etc.,
have means near 65). About 76% of all the subjects had
jobs with prestige scores ranging from 50 (truck driver,
etc.) through 79 (public school teacher, etc.). Most of
the subjects were in the blue collar to middle class
range. All of the occupations given were according to
I the subjects1 own report and there may have been some up-
27
grading as to the type of job .they usually held.
Since the time perception theory presented in
this paper focused on the psychological aspects of the
individual rather than the group, no attempt was made to ,
compare groups of differing subjects in ethnic or social
class membership.
Age
The range in age was from 22 to 72 years with an
average age of 45 years.
Intelligence j
1
All IQ scores were estimated by the Altus (1948)
!
! Short Information Intelligence Test. This test was
5
I
j reported to have a Pearson correlation of .85 with the
i
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (Pierson & Gorsuch,
1963). The range in IQ was from 80 to 130 with an
1
average of 107•
Instruments
1 ---- -----------
Self-Worth
Two scores for each subject were obtained from the
Bills' Index of Adjustment and Values (Bills, Vance &
• - i
McLean, 1951). One was the self-concept score where sub
jects rated how much of the time they were like the
particular adjectives being judged. This was a minor
measure score. The other part was the self-acceptance
score. Here, subjects rated the adjectives according to i
how much they liked being the way they were. This latter j
28
score was the major measure for basic self-worth because
it was assumed that self-acceptance is an integral part
of a basic sense of self-worth. Bills et. al. (1951)
believed that the index was "strikingly similar" to the
work being done by Rogers (1951). Bills et. al. found
a satisfactory test-retest reliability and Bills (195^0
reported a Pearson correlation of +.85 between two
judges' scoring of self-acceptance, on 13 subjects in an
open-ended interview, and the acceptance score on the
t
I
! Index of Adjustment and Values.
[
The Spiegel Self-Satisfaction Scale (Spiegel, |
i |
1963) was also used as a self-worth measure. It was !
| designed to evaluate satisfaction with current level of
I
achievement and with oneself in general. The scale is
composed of six true-false items that have been scaled
according to the Guttman (1950) method. Two of these
items have to do with mood and four with self-satisfac-
I tion. Three scores were obtained from this scale; the
total score, a score derived from the four self-satisfac
tion items, and one from the two mood items. The total
score for this test has shown high reliability and the
ability to discriminate normal subjects from psychiatric
patients at a significant level. The scores obtained from
this test were all classified as minor measures because
it is a recent test and few validating studies have been 1
|
done with the scale. The higher the score on this test |
29
the lower the feeling of self-satisfaction.
Future Goals
The Try-for Test was the main measure used for
future goals. On this test a list of 40 occupations was
given to the subjects and they were asked to rate, on a
five-point scale the degree to which they would really
try for each of the 40 occupations. All but two of the
careers on the list (telephone operator and nurse) were
occupations which had a prestige rating obtained in a
study done by the National Opinion Research Center (1947).
! The two occupations on this list that did not have direct
j prestige scores, as well as the actual occupations held
i
| by the subjects were given a derived prestige score
developed by Reiss et. al. (1961). These prestige scores,
based on a multiple regression equation which made use of
education and income, were derived from the data obtained
in the study done by the National Opinion Research Center.
The higher the index score the greater the future goal.
A socio-economic index of prestige was used as a
measure of the leyel of future goals on the Try-for Test
because there is greater competition for occupations with
more prestige and higher income. Moreover, there seems
to be a correlation between an occupation’s usefulness to
society, the amount of intelligence and creativity
required, the skill, dedication and sincerity needed, and
the subjective evaluation of the prestige of a job.
30
Therefore a general relationship is found between job
prestige and future goals.
The instructions on the Try-for Test made use of
this relationship by asking subjects to assume that they
had the necessary training for any job on the list. They
were to rate the occupations according to their likes and
dislikes with the further assumption that they would have
to pick a lifetime occupation from one of the jobs that
received a high rating. However, in making each rating
i
i
| they were also told to consider their abilities and
!
j chances for success. In this way an attempt was made to j
i
| create a goal-choosing situation with some of the re-
!
i straints found in actual practice where competition and
capabilities must be considered. The actual occupations
of the subjects were not used as a major measure since
their illness may have had an effect on the type of job
they could hold and there may have been realistic
difficulties in obtaining necessary advanced education
that people from higher social classes would not encounter.
Four scores were obtained from the Try-for Test.
Two of these scores involved the jobs on the list of
occupations that were given a 4-rating on the 5-point
scale measuring the degree to which a subject would try
for any given job. The number of jobs given a 4-rating
were added and the total was called the Number Four
Score. This score was obtained for each subject. A
: socioeconomic prestige index scores was available for
* every job on the list. The prestige score for each, job
| given a 4-rating was added and the total then divided by
the number of 4-ratings used in order to get an average
prestige score. This was called the Mean Pour Score. ;
! Every subject had a Mean Pour Score. The. other two
scores obtained from the Try-For Test involved jobs on the !
list of occupations that received a 5-rating on the 5-
|point scale. These were called the Number Five Score and
j the Mean Five Score and they were equivalent to the j
' Number Four and Mean Four Scores except they were figured
: from the jobs which had five ratings,
i Mood
i
" - In order to control for the influence of possible
imood changes during the testing session the author used
a 10-point Current Mood Scale developed by Wessman and
Ricks (Wessman, Ricks & Tyl, I960; Wessman & Ricks, 1966),
:after making some minor changes in the wording to make
jit more understandable for the subjects in this study.
This mood scale was given at the beginning and near
i
;the end of the testing sessions. The two scores
1
obtained were classified as minor measures. Wessman and
i
1 Ricks (1966) found a high correlation between mood ratings
for the male subjects in their study and psychologists'
ratings of happiness made six months earlier. Mood also
32
correlated highly with scores on-a happiness questionnaire
and with the MMPI D scale which the subjects filled out
2 years earlier. Mood was shown to affect ratings on
self-ideal type of self-worth measures by causing a drop
in self-esteem during depressed periods.
Two major measures were used in order to get at
a subject's average mood. The first was the 7-point
Usual Mood Scale. As the average mood does not fluctuate
to the extent that current moods do, the 7-point scale
was developed in order to avoid having- subjects make the
subtle discriminations needed with the 10-point Current
Mood Scale. The other major mood measure was the MMPI
i D scale (Hathaway & McKinley, 1951)* The total D score _
was found for each subject. A shorter MMPI mood scale
was also used. This scale had 12 items, taken from the
MMPI D scale, which are concerned with somatic complaints.
Since all the subjects in this study were patients in a
! hospital and two thirds of them were being treated for
physical complaints, the somatic items were scored separ
ately as a D somatic scale to make sure that the total
D score was not disproportionately elevated by these
items. The I) somatic scale was classified as a minor
‘ — ii
test.
The score derived from the two questions on the
Spiegel Self-Satisfaction Scale (Spiegel, 1965) that were
directly connected with mood gave another minor measure
: of mood. On this test, and on the two from the MMPI, a
I high score indicates depression; while on the Current
! Mood and Usual Mood Scales, it indicates elation. None
of the mood measures was used in selecting subjects. The
MMPI D scale and the Usual Mood Scale were checked
for validity in terms of their ability to separate the
psychotic depressed patients from the non-psychotic
patients.
Time Perception
The subjects gave verbal estimations of three
intervals of empty time. Two 60-second intervals and
, one 40-second interval were given in the following order:
i
i 60, 40, 6_0. At the end of each interval the subjects
indicated on a 5-point Subjective Passage of Time Scale
how the time during the short interval had passed. The
higher the rating the faster the time passed for the sub
ject. Proctor (1962) found that both of these methods
:were reliable. In order to obtain greater stability, the
;verbal estimations for the three short time intervals
were added together to form the Total Time Estimation
i
t
I Score. This same procedure was followed with the sub-
-jective evaluations in order to get a Total Subjective
iEvaluation Score. The first total score was the major
measure of time estimation and the second was one of two
major subjective evaluation scores. The scores obtained
34
directly from the three short time intervals were minor
measures. A second major phenomenological measure of
i
time was the Time Passage Scale. On this test there are
five true-false questions which ask about the speed with
which time passes. A high score indicates that time
passes quickly.
Several other minor time perception tests were
devised. The Time Orientation Scale contains a number of
true-false items having to do with future, presemt, past
and confused time orientations, as well as some questions
| concerning past happiness. A high score on any of the
I
separate parts of this scale showed a time orientation
in the direction suggested by the scale subtitle. The
last minor time perception measure was the Spiegel
Future Concern Scale (Spiegel, 1965)- As with the other
Spiegel (1965) scale, a high score indicates a lack of the
attribute, in this case, a lack of future planning.
Control Fac tors
To detect denial and repression the Dn, L and K
scales from the MMPI were used. Both L and K were
devised by Meehl and Hathaway (1946). L is a rational
scale composed of items that few people can honestly
answer in the affirmative. K is an empirical scale
developed by using patients in a psychopathic hospital who
nevertheless had MMPI profiles in the normal range. In
their review of L and K, Dahlstrom and Welsh (i960) cited j
35
studies which showed that the scales were reliable, and
that they were valid in a number of different situations,
such as the detection of attempts to "fake good." High
scores on these scales show pervasive denial which appears
to reflect long-standing deeply-ingrained views.
Little and Fisher (1958) developed the Dn scale
by doing a cluster analysis of the Hy scale. Dn was one
of the two primary dimensions of Hy. It consists of items
having to do with poor interpersonal relations, feelings
of hostility and the like. They are scored if the sub-
i ject denies its validity for him. In clinical evaluations
| |
j high Dn subjects were found to be generally uninsightful j
i and morally virtuous individuals. The Dn scale has a
| high correlation with K and it has a very large item
| overlap with the Hy subtle scale developed on a rational |
j basis by Wiener (19^-8).
A T score at or above 70 on these scales was
considered a critical score. Subjects who scored in the
critical range on any of the denial scales were to be
placed in a high denial group for separate analysis,
providing enough defensive subjects were found. Since the
denial factor was included for control purposes the three
denial scores were all listed as minor measures.
Test Booklet
All of the true-false items were put into one
i
I
test booklet. The MMPI questions from the D, L, K and
Dn scales xvere put in the order that they appear in the
: MMPI test booklet. The other items were then inter-
■ spersed in a random fashion between the MMPI questions
except for the Spiegel (1965) items. Whether one
of the questions from the latter scale was to be
included was determined randomly, but when an item was
inserted it followed the same general order that the
; questions had in the Spiegel (1965) test booklet,
i Procedure
The tests were presented in the following set
order: (1) the Current Mood Scale; (2) three short
i intervals of empty time; (3) a Subjective Time Scale
! which was filled in after making each of the short time
i interval estimations; (4) the Try-For Test; (5) the
Self-Concept and Self-Acceptance parts of the Bills Test
(Bills et al., 1951); (6) a general information sheet
. for vocational and educational facts; (7) a second
: Current Mood Scale which was identical with the first
; one; (8) the Usual Mood Scale; (9) an intelligence test;
‘ (10) and finally, 145 true-false questions.
A total of 40 scores for each subject was obtained
i
; from the above tests.
I hosuits
j Statistical Treatments
1 1
| Since the present study was primarily a correla
tional one, all the subjects were placed in one group for
37
most of the statistical treatments. The Pearson Product-
Moment formula was used for all correlations. A statis
tical test was considered significant if it was at or
beyond the .05 level. A one-tailed test of significance
was used for all the predicted relationships. A two-
tailed test was used with correlations where no predic
tions were made. Two-tailed tests were used for correla
tions involving the following measures: all time orien
tation scales except the intertest correlations for the
three future orientation scales, the Number Pour and
Number Five Scores, and all control measures except for
the intertest correlations among the three denial scales.
Also, two-tailed tests of significance were used for:
the Total Subjective Score in relation to both measures
of future goals and tests of jlf-worth, the Time Passage
Scale and tests of self-worth, and the Total Time Score and
measures of future goals.
Major Predictions
Self-Worth
Self-worth was seen as a basic underlying person
ality dimension. Two major predictions were made concern
ing this factor. The first was that the major measure
of self-worth, the Bills Self-Acceptance Scale, would be
positively correlated with the major measures of future
goals, the Mean Four and Mean Five Scores from the Try-for
Test. This prediction was upheld at a significant level
— 38
as shown in Table 1. The Mean Four Score was used as
the main future goal measure. The correlation between
this score and the main self-worth measure reached a
very significant level. The second major prediction was
that self-worth would be positively correlated with mood.
Table 2 shows that this prediction was upheld at signifi
cant levels for the correlations of both major mood
measures with all the self-worth scales.
j Future Goals
!
j In addition to the positive relationship between
| basic feelings of self-worth and long range future goals,
it was also predicted that there would be positive corre-
i lations between the major measures of future goals and
i
\
mood. Table 1 shows that this relationship was generally
upheld.
The Mean Four and Mean Five Scores on the Try-for
Test were both considered major future goal measures.
Although the correlation between these two scores was
i
very high as indicated in Table 5* the Mean Four Score
had over twice as many significant correlations as did the
Mean Five Score. Moreover, the Mean Five Scores accounted
for the only non-significant correlation with a major
mood measure (the MMPI D scale). The generally lower
correlations obtained with the Mean Five Scores can be
explained by the way the rating scale was used. On the
Try-for Test every subject had 40 jobs to rate using a
TABLE 1
Correlations Among Future Goal Measures and Tests
of Self-Worth, Mood and Time Estimation
Tests
Mean 4 Mean 5 Number 4 Number 5
Self-worth
Self-concept .26 .18 .46*** .28*
Self-acceptance .28* .32* .22
Mood
Usual mood
.48*** .4o***
.33* .19
MMPI D
37** -25
-.37**
-.12
Time estimation
Total subjective
score -.02
CV 1
0
•
1
1
.07 j
-.04
Total time -.08
1
•
o
b —1
-.34* 1 -.02
* p < .05 *** P < .005
** p<.01 **** pc.001
TABLE 2
Correlations of Measures of Self-Worth with Tests
of Mood and Time Perception
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Time and mood tests Bills test Spiegel self-satisfaction scale
Self-
concept
Self
acceptance
Satisfaction
score
Total
score
Mood:
i
Usual mood . 67**** -.45*** - . 66****
MMPI D -.61****
-.36*
.47***
.69****
Subjective time:
Total subjective scale
.35* .09
1
r o
f o
-.34*
Time passage scale
• 33*
.14 -.38**
'
- . 54***
i
Time orientation:
f ;
<
Future orientation scale • 55****
.45***
-.26*
: -.37*
Future optimism
„ 5 1 * * * *
1
-.11
-23
Future concern -.40***
-.31* .17
1
S .27 - J S T
i O
Confused orientation scale
-.53*** -.19
.52*** ! .64****
i
41
5-point scale. A count was taken of the number of times
each subject used a 4-rating for one of these jobs and the
number of times a 5-rating was used. The results of this
count showed that while 55$ of the subjects gave a 5-rat
ing to fewer than four occupations, only 22% gave a 4-rat-
ing to fewer than four jobs. Thus the 5-rat±ng was not
used very often. Since this rating was needed to compute
the Mean Five Score, it followed that there were fewer
Mean Five Scores than Mean Four Scores, and that the Mean
j
Five Scores obtained often had fewer scores to average,
i '
Because of their greater stability, the Mean Four Score
was accepted as the main measure of future goals.
Only six patients gave three or fewer jobs a
i
!
j4-rating and three or fewer jobs a 5-rating on the Try-for
1
list of occupations. Since five of these subjects would
be classified as depressed according to the MMPI D scale
(T score of 70 plus), it was clear that, for this small
sample, subjects who gave few high ratings on the Try-for j
Scale tended to be depressed. Two-thirds of the subjects j
I
who gave three or fewer 4-ratings to jobs on the list also
gave three or fewer 5-ratings to these jobs. Larger
samples would be needed to see whether these trends are
truly representative.
Mood
From a theoretical standpoint mood was seen as
influenced by self-worth and future goals, and in turn as
! 42
!
f
| influencing the perception of the passage of time. The
i
significant relationships of self-worth and future goals
has already been explored (see Tables 1 and 2). As to
time perception, the two main hypotheses were that
depressed moods would be associated with longer time esti
mations, and with the subjective feeling that time was
passing slowly. Table 3 shows that these two hypotheses
were supported inasmuch as the major mood scales were
significantly correlated with the major time estimation
and subjective evaluation measures.
|
| Time Perception
i
j In addition to the relationship jof mood to both
time estimation and the subjective evaluation of time
passage, the prediction was also made that in general the
longer the estimation of an interval of time the slower
time seems to pass during the interval. In the testing
situation used in this study the time perception theory
would also hold that longer time estimates would be
generally related to the subjective feeling that time
usually passed slowly. As Table 3 shows these predictions
were all upheld at significant levels.
Minor Predictions
Self-Worth
Tests of self-worth. Table 4 presents the
correlations among the measures of self-worth. All but
one of these correlations reached significant levels.
J
TABLE 3
Correlations Among Measures of Time
Perception and Mood
Measures Confused
orientation
scale
Usual
mood
MMPI-
D
“
Time j Third
passage jsubjective
scale ] scale
; !
1 !
Total
subjective
scale
Usual mood - . 65****
1
!
MMPI D
!
I I
Time passage scale -.52*** ! - . 65****! |
: S y
Third subjective scale . 47***
I
„.47***
• 1
j .54**#* |
! j
Total subjective scale
_ .54***
I .39**
I _.44#**
j 1
s .57**** j
^ t
Third time estimation
.29 -.29*
j
! .37**
j
> '
<-.45*** j -.46***
J-.4l*** | -.35*
-.40***
Total time estimation .38*
-•33*
1
i .37**
-.30*
j
-Fr
00
1
i
j
i
TABLE 4
1
Intercorrelations Among Self-Worth Measures
Tests
Spiegel self-satisfaction scale Bills test
Satisfaction
score
Mood
score
Total
score
Self-
concept
Spiegel self-satisfaction
scale
■
Mood i terns
-
.48***
Total score
.80****
Bills test (
Self-concept -.51****
_ 447*** _ ^ 57****
Self-acceptanGe -.25
i
-.26* -.29*
. J . _________
!
4=-
4 = -
45
Three scores were obtained from the Spiegel
Self-Satisfaction Scale; a Total Score, a Satisfaction
Score, consisting of four self-satisfaction true-false
items, and a Mood Score, which contains two true-false
items that deal with depression-elation. The self-satis
faction and mood subscales were very highly correlated
with the total score and had much lower, though very
significant, correlations with each other. This latter
fact suggests that in spite of their interrelatedness,
there is a great deal of independent variation. Therefore,
I the mood and satisfaction subscales should not be consid- !
i
ered equivalent measures. All three scores taken from
the Spiegel Self-Satisfaction Scale had much higher
i
correlations to the Self-Concept Score oT the Bills Test
than they did to the Bills Test Self-Acceptance score.
Apparently the items on the Spiegel scale are more
highly related to the way a person sees himself than they
are to how much that person accepts himself.
'
The Bills Test presented a scoring problem.
Subjects were first given the self-concept part of the
j
test. In this section they were asked to rate adjectives
according to how much of the time they were like the
particular word being rated. Next they did the self-
acceptance part where they rated the same adjectives
according to how much they liked being the way they had
described themselves on the first rating. The problem
was that subjects could indicate a very poor self-concept
on the first rating and then on the second rating say
that they were very accepting of this poor self-concept.
If the score on the second rating was taken at its face
value it would show high self-acceptance. Since it is
!
more likely that a person who took the test in this manner
either did not understand the rating scales or was being
defensive, a check was made to see how often this occurred.
Ten subjects gave clear evidence of rating some adjectives
in such a way as to indicate a poor self-concept and a
! ■ i
i high self-acceptance. Only one subject, however, used !
I this technique extensively. The other nine gave this type
i
1 of response to fewer than five adjectives out of the total
of 4-9 rated by each subject. As this problem had a very
limited effect no further analysis was made.
I
Relationships with future goals and mood. As
predicted, all of the minor self-worth tests had signifi
cant relationships to both major and minor mood tests.
In this instance the correlations were all significant
beyond the .005 level. On the other hand, only one minor
self-worth measure had a significant correlation with a
future goal test. This exception was the Bills' Self-
Concept Score which correlated +.41 ^.005, with the Mean
Four Score.
Time perception measures. Table 2 presents the j
significant data for the self-worth, time orientation, and j
47
time passage measures. Both scores obtained from the
Bills Test had significant correlations with measures of
future orientation and optimism. Subjects with greater
self-worth were more oriented towards and optimistic
about the future. Correlations between the two self-
satisfaction scores, of the Spiegel Self-Satisfaction
Scale, and future orientation and optimism showed the same
general trend as did the Bills Test scores. The Spiegel
scale correlations however did not reach significant
levels except for their relationships with the Future
; Orientation Scale. Both of the Spiegel Self-Satisfaction !
; j
Scale scores and the Bills Test Self-Concept Score had
| significant correlations with the subjective passage of
time scales and the Confused Orientation Scale. These
correlations showed that subjects with greater self-worth
i
experienced time as passing quickly and had a less confus
ed time orientation. The correlations involving the Bills
Test Self-Acceptance Scores were in the same direction,
but they did not reach significant levels.
Future Goals
Intertest correlations. Table 5 gives the future
goal intertest correlations. The correlations between the
Mean Four and Mean Five Scores was at a very significant
level. Number Four Scores were also significantly related
to Mean Four Scores. The only other significant correla
tions were between the prestige scores for the actual job
48
TABLE 5
-
Correlations Among Measures of
Future Goals
Tests Mean 4 Mean 5 Number 4 Number 5
Mean 5
.71****
.
'
Number 4
• 33*
.11
___
Number 5 .23
.24 -.10
S Actual job | .24
|
.40***
.27*
;
-____ ______
.15
49
held by the subjects and both the Number Four and Mean
Five Scores. The correlation between the Actual Occupa
tion Scores and the Mean Four Scores did reach the .10
level of significance. No significant correlations were
expected for the relationship between Mean Four and Mean
Five Scores and perhaps a significant relationship between
these two scores and the prestige scores for the sub
jects ' actual jobs.
Time orientation. Since the setting of future
goals implies an interest or concern for the future,
■ rather than an orientation to the past, the measures of
j |
j future goals should be significantly correlated with time
!
| orientation measures. Table 6 shows that this prediction j
was true for both Mean Four and Mean Five Scores and the
Future Concern Scale and for the Mean Four Scores and
future optimism. There was also a negative correlation
between a measure of timelessness and the Mean Four
Scores. No prediction was made concerning this latter j
i
finding. Correlations with the Mean Five Scores were |
i
lower but followed the same general pattern.
Unexpected results. As noted in Table 1, there
were several unexpected findings. The most consistent
occurred with the Number Four measure. The more 4-ratings
a subject gave on the Try-for Test, the more likely he was
to have shorter time estimations, a better mood, and
I
greater self-worth. There was also a negative but 1
j 50
TABLE 6
Correlations Among Measures of Time
Orientation and Future Goals
Time orientation
Future concern
Future optimism
Future orienta
tion
Recent past
Distant past
Timelessness
Mean 4 Mean 5 Number
-.37**
-.42*** .22
.31*
.11 .22
.25
.09 .12
.23
.28* .12
-.31* -.31*
-.12
.
-.31*
-.11
-.05
• j
i
J
i
i
i
i
Number 5
-.04
.04
-.14
-.22
-.25
51*
nonsignificant correlation -.29^ -05 between the number
of 4-ratings given and confused time. The same pattern
was found for the Number Five Scores except that the
correlations were lower. The reason for this was that
subjects tended to use more 4-ratings which made for
i
greater stability. The other unpredicted significant
result was the positive correlation between subjective
time evaluation and the prestige scores of the subjects'
actual jebs.
i
j
j Mood
| iii.
i
! i
I Mood tests. The intercorrelations for the separate;
' i
i
mood scales are presented in Table 7- They are all high
and significant. The correlation between the MMPI D
scale and D somatic was very high and while the MMPI D
scale tended to have somewhat higher correlations with
other tests used in this study both of them had a very
similar correlational pattern. The correlation between
the 7-point Usual Mood Seale and the 60-item MMPI D
scale was a little higher than that between D somatic and
D. With about 40# of the other tests used in this study,
the Usual Mood Scale had somewhat higher correlations than
did the D scales In fact the Usual Mood Scale had higher
correlations with more variables than any other mood test
except D. The Spiegel Self-Satisfaction Scale has two
questions which are directly concerned with mood. Table
7 shows that these two items yielded high correlations
52
TABLE 7
Intereorrelations Among Mood Measures
Measures
MMPI D
D somatic
First mood rating
Usual
mood
-.67****
MMPI
D
D
somati
First
mood
(Second
mood
rating rating
Second mood rating .73**** j .7i***#j-.59****
D items from the [-.76****!.78***
self-satisfaction | J
scale I (
* 1 .
55**##
i
-. 73****j-. 72****
with the other mood measures.
None of these mood measures was used in the
selection of subjects in this study. All 13 of the sub
jects in the psychiatric hospital had T scores of 70 or
over on the MMPI D scale and 11 of them had T scores that
were over 80. Of the non-psychiatric population seven
out of a total of 27 subjects had T scores of 80 or more
and 14 had T scores of 70 or more. Thus, in the total
population of 40 subjects, 27 (68$) had T scores of 70 or
t
over on the MMPI D scale. Depressed subjects In the !
i \
! I
| psychiatric hospital were successfully separated from the !
non-psychiatric patients by using either the Usual Mood
Scale or the^D scale. A subject was placed in the
psychotic depression category if he had a score of four
[ I
j or less on the Usual Mood Scale or a T score of 80 or
more on the MMPI D scale. These cutting scores were
derived by looking at the results and picking a score
I
that appeared to give good separation between the groups. !
i
Significant results were achieved with both scales (Usual J
Mood TScale: x2 = 21.96, df = 1, p <.001; MMPI D scale; J
x2 = 12.21, df = 1, p <.00l). The Usual Mood Scale did a |
better job than D at discriminating, but the difference
between the two tests was not significant, (x2 = 1.39;
df = 1).
The Current Mood Scale was given at the beginning
i
and end of the testing session to make sure that none of j
54
the results was due to systematic mood changes during the
testing sessions. Table 7 shows that both of these mood
f
ratings were highly correlated with usual mood as
measured by the MMPI D scale and the Usual Mood Scale.
About 18# of the subjects had better moods at the end of
the session than they did at the beginning. About 13#
had worse moods, while 70# showed no change. Differentia
tion between subjects with improving and worsening moods
; was not significant. In general, subjects whose mood got
| better started with very low mood scores while those whose
j
i mood got worse started with very high scores.
I
| Mood and time evaluation. As predicted the minor
J mood measures had significant positive correlations with
the subjective measures of time passage. The one excep
tion was the Second Subjective Score (the evaluation of
the speed with which the second time interval passed).
There were no significant correlations between this
measure and the minor mood measures. No correlations were
made between the Spiegel Self-Satisfaction D Score and
any other minor test scores. The predicted significant,
negative correlations between the minor mood scales and
the time estimation tests was not found.
Mood and time orientation. The prediction was
made that mood would be significantly correlated with
future time orientation. Table 8 shows that this was
true for both major mood measures. The minor mood
TABLE 8
Correlations of the Major Tests of Mood and Future Goals with Measures
of Future Orientation, Past Orientation, and Past Happiness
Tests Future orientation Past happiness
-
Future
orientation
scale
Future
concern
Future
optimism
Recent Distant
■
Usual mood
,52**** _.49***
.36*
.42***
-.27*
MMPI D
-.39**
.28*
_ .4. 3***
-.52****
.40***
Mean ^
.25
-.38**
| *31*
i
.23 -.31*
Past orien
tation
-.21
.30*
-.07
ui
ui
| 56
measures were also significantly correlated with the
future orientation scales except for the Spiegel Future
Concern Scale. Correlations with the latter scale reached
a significant level on only the first Current Mood
Scale rating. Table 8 also indicates significant corre
lations between the MMPI D scale and the following
measures: Past Orientation, Recent Happiness, and
Distant Past Happiness.
Time Perception
Intertest correlations for time evaluation
i
: measures. All of the intertest correlations for time j
i !
I estimation and subjective evaluation of time passage were j
| very high. The time estimation correlations were all over
i
i
•70 and significant at better than the .001 level. The
intertest correlations for the subjective evaluation of
j time passage were all over .40 and significant at better
1 than the .005 level. With both of these measures the
score obtained from the third short time interval yielded
generally higher correlations to other tests used in this
study, than did any of the other time evaluation scores.
The next best, as far as number of high correlations, were
the total scores.
Time orientation. Table 9 presents the inter
correlations among the time orientation measures. The
prediction that the three future orientation tests would
be significantly intercorrelated was upheld exeept for the
TABLE 9
Intercorrelations Among Time Orientation Measures
Future
orientation
Future
orientation
scale
Future
concern
Future
optimism
Future orienta
tion:
"T
Future eoncernf -.42*** \
Future optim
ism |
j
Past orientation I
scale:
Past happiness:
Recent
Distant
Confused -orienta-i'
tion:
,6l****{ -.04
-.14
.11
.04
I -.08
.10
.01
-.21
.32*
-.18
Past
orientation
Past
orienta
tion
scale
Past
happiness
Recent
T~
.02
-.08
Distant
-.41**!
Confused
orientation
Confused
orienta
tion
scale
Time
less
ness
VJl
-4
TABLE 9— Continued
Tests Future
orientation
i
Past
orientation
Past
happiness
Confused
orientation
i
Future Future
orientatioiiconcern
scale | j
{
Future
optimism
Past
orienta
tion
scale
Recent Distant Confused
orienta
tion
scale
Time
less
ness
Confused orien
tation scale
7
f
i
-.18 ! .28
!
° i
j
.28
-.37* .37*
•
Timelessness -.23 1 .30
!
-.0 9
■
o
00
-.0 7 .43**
.40***
Present orienta
tion scale:
i
1
.20 1.19 I . 22 :
1
J
i
i -.1 3 1 .20
J
i
i
i .02
j
-.17 .09
ui
oo
59
relationship between future concern and future optimism.
In addition, a positive relationship between the two
confused orientation measures was.found. Table 9 also
shows that a person who viewed the past few months as
having been happy tended to have an optimistic outlook
regarding the future and did not look back to the "good
old days." However, he did not necessarily concern him
self with planning for future events. On the other hand,
the subject who saw the past few months as having been
unhappy was likely to have said life used to be happier
and to have seen time as a confusing entity. In general, j
subjects who had confused time orientations showed a lack
of future concern, were oriented toward the past, and saw
i
j the past as a happier time. The relationship of the j
j Confused Time Orientation Scale to tests of time evalua-
j ' - . . . . :
tion and mood appeared in Table 3- A confused orientation!
was related to greater depression, the subjective feeling
that time was passing slowly and longer time estimations.
-Time estimation and subjective time passage. On
the whole, the prediction of a negative correlation
between the minor tests of time estimation and subjective
time passage was verified. Scores obtained from the third
short time interval consistently produced the highest
correlations. The Third Interval Time Estimation Score
had significant correlations in the expected direction,
with the subjective evaluations for all three intervals.
60
These correlations were significant at the .05 level with
the first subjective evaluation, at the .01 level with
the second evaluation, and at the .005 level with the
third evaluation. The correlation between the Third
Interval Time Estimation Score and the Total Subjective
Evaluation Score, was also significant at beyond the .005
level. The Third Subjective Evaluation Score had signifi
cant correlations in the expected direction, with the first
and third time estimations but not with the second esti
mation. Except for the above mentioned instances, none of
i
the first or second interval correlations between j
time estimation and subjective evaluation reached signifi-
| cant levels,
j Control Factors
j The only prediction made for the control factors
1
j was that the three tests of denial would be significantly
| correlated in a positive direction. Table 10 which gives
I |
the intercorrelations for the control factors, shows that j
this prediction was confirmed. The K and Dn tests were j
very highly correlated with each other, and had lower
correlations with L. The latter test had a significant
correlation with IQ which was as high as the.correlation
L had with K and higher than its correlation with Dn.
The relationship of IQ to L may partially explain the
lower correlation of L with the other two denial scales
I
as the latter scales have very low correlation with IQ. ]
61
TABLE 10
Intercorrelations of Control Factors
Tests I.Q. MMPI L
MMPI L
MMPI K
MMPI Dn
Age
- .47*** ]
-i
-.09 / .47***
.02 ; 29*
.01 f -.02
!
MMPI K j MMPI Dn
.81****
.04
-.09
62
Since only two subjects had T scores of JO or plus on
any one of the three MMPI denial scales, no separate
statistical analysis was made of these high denial
subjects.
Table 11 gives the significant correlations of the
I
control factors with the other major variables used in
this study. In addition to its relationship with the L
scale, intelligence was also found to be significantly
correlated with the prestige score of the patients' actual
jobs. This correlation may be confounded because the
prestige scores of these jobs were partially determined
by educational level and this too is correlated with in-
j
; telligence. Intelligence had a significant positive
1
correlation with the subjective experience of time~as
passing quickly and a negative correlation with a view of
j
the distant past as being a happier time.
Of the three measures of denial, L had the fewest
significant correlations. It had none with any measures
except for the correlation with IQ which has already
been discussed. Both the K and the Dn scales showed
significant negative correlations with confused time. The
K scale also had a significant negative correlation with
present orientation, while the Dn scale had a significant
negative correlation with the Future Concern Scale. In
addition, the Dn scale tended to have significant
correlations with all the measures of self-worth even
63
TABLE 11
Correlations of Control Factor Tests with
Measures of Time, Future Goals, and
Self-Worth
Tests I.Q.
Subjective time
Total subjective
scale
Time passage ,
scale
Time orientation
Future concern
Past happiness
Distant past
Present orientation
Present orienta
tion scale
Confused orientation
Confused orienta
tion scale
Future goals
Actual job
Self-worth
Self-acceptance
Self-concept
Spiegels total self
acceptance scale
.31*
; .36*
I - .01
i
:-.34*
-.09
-.07
MMPI L MMPI K
-. 06
-.P?
r03
.20
-.30
-.04
-r2l
.08
.05
.10
I -.00
i
j -.14
I .18
.25
.04
-.16
-.20
.11
.04
.05
.22
MMPI Dn
• 30
.16
-.33*
-.21
-.34* |-.27
-.36* ;-.4l**
.24
.31*
.29
-.34*
\
64
though L and K tended to have very low correlations with
self-worth. Age had no significant correlations with any
measure used in this study. However, its correlation
with an orientation towards the distant past (r = .29,
p. <^.10) may have reached a significant level if more
older subjects had been used.
Number of Significant Correlations
Out of a total of 151 predicted correlations 106
(70$) were significant at better than the .05 level. On
a chance basis only eight correlations would have been
predicted to reach the .05 level of significance. All
the correlations were in the expected direction, even
those that were not high enough to reach statistical
significance.
The most important group of correlations were the
i
ones which involved the major predictions. This was true
because these correlations assessed the relationships
among the major elements of the theory using the main test|
measures. Of the 16 predicted correlations in this group,
13 (8l$) exceeded the .05 level of significance. Ten of
these 13 correlations were significant beyond the .01
level, and six of them beyond the .005 level. The three
correlations that fell below the .05 level all involved
the mean five scores which turned out to be a poor test
because of the large number of subjects who seldom used
a 5-rank. These figures indicate that there was
65
substantial confirmation of the major predictions.
A total of 87 minor test predictions were made.
In this group 51 correlations (59$) were significant at
/ ,
better than the .05 level. The areas with the fewest
significant correlations involved the minor mood measure
correlations with the time estimations and both the minor
measures of self-worth and mood in relation to tests of
future goals. Once again the Mean Five scores did not
yield the high correlations that were obtained with Mean
Four scores. Consistently significant correlations were j
! 1
! !
I found between measures of mood and the subjective evalua- j
‘ i
! tion of time passage, as well as between future time j
orientation and both mood and self-acceptance. !
There were 48 predicted correlations for the
1 I
intertest group, of which 46 correlations (96$^ were I
i
r
significant beyond the .05 level. Included in the latter j
group were 39 correlations exceeding the .005 and 36, the
.001 level of significance. One test score for self-
worth, Bills Self-Acceptance Score, and one of the future
orientation tests, Spiegel's Future Concern Scale,
I
accounted for the two nonsignificant correlations.
DISCUSSION
While it was possible to marshall supporting
evidence for the proposed time perception theory from a j
wide variety of articles in the literature, this study
provided an opportunity to examine the Interaction of all
66
the variables at one time rather than in a piecemeal
fashion. The results obtained, using the major measures,
clearly supported the theory by showing that a basic sense
of self-worth was related to future goals and to mood,
that future goals were also related to mood, and finally
that mood had the expected direct influence on time
estimation and on the subjective evaluation of the speed
with which time passed. Two other general predictions
involving the theory were also confirmed in that longer
interval estimations were related to the subjective
feelings that time was passing slowly, and measures of
self-acceptance, future goals and mood all had positive
correlations with measures of future time orientation.
The problem with a correlational study of this
type is that even though supporting evidence was found
for all the hypotheses, a causal relationship cannot be
established. Correlational studies, however, can
provide negative evidence against a theory or make major
changes in the theory necessary, and for this reason the
obtained positive results are important. For example,
it would be hard to argue that mood directly influenced
time perception if no correlation between mood and time
perception could be established, yet the presence of a
significant correlation between these two factors does not
prove that time perception is dependent on mood rather
than that mood is dependent on time perception as
: suggested by Fogel and Hoffer (1962). j
i
i
- The obvious solution to the problem is to'design
; experiments -which manipulate various personality variables
: and see what happens to time perception. For example,
mood could be varied through use of hypnosis or by sub
jecting individuals to a number of depressing situations !
i
to see if this would change their time perception. j
I
Another type of experiment could be designed where goals j
!
1 are blocked to determine whether or not this caused any i
| change in mood and time perception.
The difficult problem is to find some experimental
: means of varying basic feelings of self-worth since this
! is a broad, deep-seated personality trait rather than
I
: something that can greatly fluctuate from day to day in
the way that mood does. One solution might be to test
patients before and after long-term psychotherapy on the
: premise that the therapy should provide an emotionally
' corrective experience which will result in an increase in
basic feelings of self-worth. Rogers and Dymond (195^)
| have shown that there are positive increases in self-
I
: concept due to psychotherapy. Successful therapy, however,
; could also cause changes in mood and goal setting behavior
I and it would be impossible to vary self-worth alone. One
i
i
of the inherent problems with a theory that has strong
roots in clinical data is that it is often hard to find
clear-cut experimental tests for it. On the other hand,
I 68 I
: theories stemming from the laboratory often lack relevance
;for the complexities of real life situations,
j The unexpected significant correlations found in
relation to the Try-For Test’s Number Four scores needs
: i
further exploration. People with high scores tended to j
i
have shorter time estimations, a better mood, and a j
greater sense of self-worth. These findings suggest
i
:that this measure is related to emotional adjustment. A
ihigh scorer, in this instance, is one who gives more jobs
\ a . high rating on the 5-point scale used in the Try-For
,Test. This indicates that the test may tap the passive-
I active continuum in the sense that a passive person is
!more likely to say that he would "not try for this job
i
I at all" in the case of more jobs on the Try-For list of i
occupations than would an active person. On the other
hand, an active individual who has a good sense of self-
worth may be willing to give a 4-rating to more jobs on
:the list and thus indicate that he "would probably try
I for" these jobs if given a chance to get the necessary
training. Thus, the amount of activity is measured by the
Inumber of 4-ratings given.
In the present study the measures of future goals
jhad very low correlations with both time estimation and
i
[phenomenological evaluation measures. These results were
in apparent opposition to the significant correlations
found in the studies using various future goal measures
69
by Knapp and Garbutt (1958)* Siegman (1962b), and Baer,
Wukasch, and Goldstone (1963). As a group, the subjects
in the present study were probably more depressed (over
two-thirds had MMPI.T scores of 70 or above) and had
generally lower future goals than the college undergrad
uates and medical students who served as subjects in the
studies just cited. The differences in future goal
i
results can be explained in terms of theoretical consider
ations concerning the role of strong emotions. Depres-
j sion is a strong emotion and as such it covered over the
i
influence future goals had on time perception for the |
I |
j depressed subjects in the present research. In the other j
I
1 three experiments most of the subjects were neither
j depressed nor elated and therefore a relationship between
future goals and time perception was found. To be more
specific, during the Try-For Test the depressed subjects
in the present study complied with the experimenter’s |
request and set future goals. Since they generally were
very pessimistic, however, about their own future, their
goal-setting in the testing situation did not as
closely represent their real life behavior as did the
experimental goal-setting activity of the non-depressed
subjects in the other three studies who had realistic
reasons to be optimistic about the future.
Another area with apparently conflicting inter
pretations and results has to do with the phenomenological
j 70
J meaning of time estimation. The present investigation
| showed that people who gave shorter-time estimations
\ ■
experienced time as passing at a faster rate—than did
subjects who gave longer estimations, a finding that does
not support Siegman's (1961) interpretation that shorter
estimations indicated that time was passing more "slowly."
Results which conflict with those of the present study
are also found in research done by Schonbach (1959)* and
Cohen and Mezey (1961) using normal subjects, and Proctor
(1962) working with emotionally disturbed adolescents who
] did not find significant correlations between time esti- 1
; !
j mations and phenomenological measures of time passage.
| The explanation might be related to the fact that in this
1
j study the correlations between measures of time estima-
1
i tions and subjective evaluations were lower than the
]
correlations between time passage questions and mood
measures. It follows that the subjective evaluation of
the passage of a short time interval may be a less
sensitive phenomenological measure that only reveals
significant correlations in situations where strong
emotions are present. Here again, the fact that many }
' ■ t
depressed subjects were used may account for significant 1
correlations in this study as opposed to the nonsignificant
,
ones reported elsewhere.
Although the primary focus of the present theory
has been on the psychological aspects of time perception, >
71
the roles of both physiological and social factors need
to be considered. In reference to the former,, several
theories have been postulated. One which has received
considerable attention is the conception of a biological
clock. Both Pieron (1923) and Hoagland (1933) suggested
that there was a systematic relationship between time
perception and body temperature. More specifically
Hoagland (1933> 1951) postulated a chemical pacemaker
based on the oxidative metabolism in the cells of the
reticular formation in the brain stem. This pacemaker
| gives an individual a linear, private time scale. An
| increase in temperature speeds these chemical reactions
! and therefore more physiological time passes during a
j given interval of clock time. This makes it seem as
i
though subjective time were passing at a slower rate. On
the other hand, lowering the internal body temperature
reduces the biochemical changes present during a given
interval and time seems to run faster. Hoagland found
that at higher temperatures estimations of one minute
i
duration were shorter, using the production method. Since
there is a negative correlation between time estimations
obtained by the production and verbal estimation methods
(Clausen, 1950), Hoagland's results obtained by the
production method agree with the verbal estimation results
of the present study. The latter showed a relationship
between longer verbal estimations of a time interval and
72
:the subjective feeling that time was passing slowly.
In reference to the connection between time per-
!ception and depression there are papers which link depres
sion to metabolic dysfunction. For example, Kraines
(1957) claims that depression is a psychological reaction
to diencephalic disturbances which cause many changes
including metabolic and endocrine problems, particularly
of the gonades, while Campbell (1953) states, without
;citing any statistical evidence, that elevations in
:temperature and basal metabolic rate is a frequent obser
vation in depressed patients. If this is true then a
|metabolic theory could explain the connection between
|depression and the subjective experience that time is
:passing slowly.
While it is evident that there must be some
physiological basis for time perception, there are several
reports which suggest that psychological factors are of
primary importance. An early review of time perception
'studies (Gilliland, Hofeld, Eckstrand, 19^6) concluded
;that the physiological factors in time estimation were
I
external. In two experiments (Lockhart, 1967* and Fox,
iBradbury, Hampton & Legg, 1967) where both depressed and
1 elevated body temperatures were used, time passed at a
!
|slower rate during the extreme temperatures at both ends
jof the continuum. While this can be explained by a
: psychological theory in terms of a slowing of time per-
! ception due to the increased personal discomfort of the
| subjects as the temperature became too hot or too cold,
; it does not fit Hoagland's conception of a linear rela
tionship between biochemical reactions and time percep
tion. Lockhart (1967) explained his results in terms of
the "internal clock" theory of Treisman (1963)j and Fox
et al. (1967) maintained that their results supported
I Hoagland's theory. In both of these experiments, however,
i the authors resorted to the psychology factor of personal
discomfort or stress to explain the time estimations
I obtained under the cold conditions. Obviously this ex-
\
I planation could also be applied to estimations made in an
i
I uncomfortably warm situation.
The relative importance of psychological and
temperature elements could be determined by comparing the
. correlations obtained between each of these factors and
; various time perception measures. If the psychological
; aspects are more important they should have significantly
; higher correlations. Another factor which needs to be
: evaluated in a physiological theory is the effect of
; psychological aspects such as stress in order to determine
| if they cause any physiological changes which in turn may
I
be related to time perception.
Social factors such as culture or social class
also can influence the perception of time. Smith (1952)
74
compared a number of cultures on the basis of time orien-
j tation. She found various time orientations in different
i
| cultures: Western culture was future oriented, time for
the Hindu Indians extended infinitely into both past and
future. For the Chinese, the present was the focal point
from which existence flowed evenly to the past and future,
and finally the Pacific Coast Salish American Indian had
a present oriented time perception. Further, support
for the idea of cultural differences in time perception is
provided by the Trobriand Islanders for whom all events
are regarded as taking place in a universal future (Lee,
1949). The nature of time is included in a list of basic
!
! reality elements which Kluckhohn (1955* 196l) used to
evaluate different cultures and social classes. She
maintained that the lower class was oriented to the
1
present, the middle class to the future, and the upper
class to the past. On the other hand, the Mexican culture
was oriented to the present in the sense of a timeless
now.
In a similar view, ^an in-depth analysis of
differences between "white people's time" and "colored
people's time" was given by Henry (1965)* He Indicated
that with the very poor survival took precedence over goal
striving. The possible level of goal achievement
influenced time perception in the sense that for the
I
middle class there was the possibility that with time and j
work future goals could be achieved, while in the lower
classes there was a lack of hope and illusions become a
way of life, for Negroes an event could occur over a
spread of hours or not at all but if it was in the white
world it occurred on time. An unpublished study by
Zelen and Zelen (1968) provided partial confirmation of
I
Henry-Ls .viewpoint. The authors found that lower-class I
|
adolescents believed they had already achieved a signifi
cantly higher percentage of their total life achievements
than did middle-class adolescents. Apparently the under
privileged adolescents saw themselves as accomplishing |
less and therefore finishing their achievement earlier. |
Experimental confirmation of class differences in time ;
perception however, has proved difficult (Greene and
Roberts, 1961; Judson and Tuttle, 1966).
There are other reality factors which can in
fluence time perception besides poverty. Death is one as
was pointed out in the LeShan and LeShan (1961) article
concerning psychotherapy with patients dying of cancer.
The need for the existentialists' (May, et al. 1958)
emphasis on the "now" was clearly illustrated. A
; therapist's presence can affirm the importance of the here
and now, the feeling that another person is being
unconditionally accepted, with any patient but its effect
| is easier to see when working with people who have a very
J limited future. Since it was not possible to plan for
76
!
long term future goals with the cancer patients the true
importance of the question of what the person did with
his remaining time came into clearer perspective. The
authors pointed out that the search for self-understanding
is not dependent on objective time measures and they gave
an example of a patient who for the first time was able
to accept the fact that she was loved and was lovable.
There are three broad factors related to time
perception: physiological., psychological, and social.
In general, the psychological aspect is the most important
I because the other two factors exert their influence
.
through this modality. Thus psychological elements were
I held to be of primary importance in time perception.
Summary
In this study a time perception theory was
i
i presented and tested. The theory states that feelings of
basic self-worth lead to the setting of long-term realis
tic future goals and a positive basic mood; that long
term future goals are also directly related to a positive j
I
basic mood; and that a positive mood leads to generally |
shorter time estimations and the subjective feeling that
i I
time is passing quickly. In addition the theory holds
that the basic sense of self-worth, positive mood and
future goals are all correlated with future time orienta
tion. In general, pleasant emotional states are related j
to future orientations, shorter time estimations, and the
I 77
; subjective experience that time is passing quickly,
iUnpleasant emotions are generally associated with
j
!restricted future orientations, longer time estimations
!and the feeling that time is passing slowly. The inten
sity of the current emotional level also plays a part.
In mild emotional states long term future goals and the
;basic mood level will have a positive relationship to
i time perception, but as the immediate emotional level gets
j very intense it takes precedence and becomes the major
jtime perception factor.
The subjects used in this study were all male
I patients in Veterans Administration Hospitals. A total of
i
| 4-0 subjects were used, 13 of whom were from a psychiatric
t
;hospital and 27 from general medical and surgical
hospitals. None of the patients had any diagnosed or
suspected organic damage to the central nervous system
;and those in the general medical and surgical hospitals
did not have a psychiatric diagnosis. In order to obtain
ia wide mood range only depressed patients were selected
from the psychiatric hospital. Approximately 68$ of all
i
subjects had scores in the depressed range (T score of
;70 or over) on the MMPI D scale. The subjects' average
i age was 4-5 years and their average I.Q., 107. The
|subjects included 37 Caucasians, two Negroes, and one
!Puerto Rican. Most of these men were from blue collar
i
j and middle class groups.
The tests used in obtaining the major scores for |
j
each subject were as follows: three short intervals of j
empty time to estimate, a subjective scale to evaluate the
speed with which these intervals passed, the Self-
Acceptance Scale of the Bills Test,, the Try-For Test of |
Future Goals, and the Usual Mood Scale. The MMPI D scale,
i
; the Time Passage Scal,e, the Time Orientation (future, \
present, past and confused orientation) Scale and the Past j
1
I Happiness Scale, were all included in a test booklet,
i The results upheld the time perception theory
■ confirming all predicted major relationships among the
j self-worth, future goal, mood and time perception elements
i
I <
I of the theory. Out of a total of 151 predicted correla-
i ' i
itions, 106 were significant beyond the .05 level. On a j
chance basis only eight significant correlations would be
predicted using the .05 level. All the correlations were
in the expected direction even those that were not high
.enough to reach the criteria of statistical significance.
!The most important group of predicted correlations were
i
ithose which assessed the relationships among the major
I
elements of the theory using the main tests selected to
devaluate these elements. Of the 16 predicted correlations
1
jin this group, 13 met the statistical criterion of
i
I significance at the .05 level, 10 at the .01 level, and
!
I six at the .005 level.
The relationship of physiological and social
factors to time perception were briefly explored. These
aspects were seen as exerting their influence through
personality factors such as self-worth, future goals and
mood. Thus psychological elements were held to be of
primary importance in time perception.
80
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1

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Creator Proctor, Peter Prince (author)

Core Title Self-Worth, Future Goals, Mood And Time Perception

Degree Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Program Psychology

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag OAI-PMH Harvest,Psychology, clinical

Language English

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Advisor Seward, Georgene H. (committee chair), Lasswell, Thomas E. (committee member), Ruch, Floyd L. (committee member)

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