Approaching future rewards or waiting for them to arrive: Spatial representations of time and intertemporal choice.
Our mental representation of the passage of time is structured by concepts of spatial motion, including an ego-moving perspective in which the self is perceived as approaching future events and a time-moving perspective in which future events are perceived as approaching the self. While previous res...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2024-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0301781&type=printable |
| _version_ | 1797214675159482368 |
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| author | Daniel Fletcher Robert Houghton Alexa Spence |
| author_facet | Daniel Fletcher Robert Houghton Alexa Spence |
| author_sort | Daniel Fletcher |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Our mental representation of the passage of time is structured by concepts of spatial motion, including an ego-moving perspective in which the self is perceived as approaching future events and a time-moving perspective in which future events are perceived as approaching the self. While previous research has found that processing spatial information in one's environment can preferentially activate either an ego-moving or time-moving temporal perspective, potential downstream impacts on everyday decision-making have received less empirical attention. Based on the idea people may feel closer to positive events they see themselves as actively approaching rather than passively waiting for, in this pre-registered study we tested the hypothesis that spatial primes corresponding to an ego-moving (vs. time-moving) perspective would attenuate temporal discounting by making future rewards feel more proximal. 599 participants were randomly assigned to one of three spatial prime conditions (ego-moving, time-moving, control) resembling map-based tasks people may engage with on digital devices, before completing measures of temporal perspective, perceived wait time, perceived control over time, and temporal discounting. Partly consistent with previous research, the results indicated that the time-moving prime successfully activated the intended temporal perspective-though the ego-moving prime did not. Contrary to our primary hypotheses, the spatial primes had no effect on either perceived wait time or temporal discounting. Processing spatial information in a map-based task therefore appears to influence how people conceptualise the passage of time, but there was no evidence for downstream effects on intertemporal preferences. Additionally, exploratory analysis indicated that greater perceived control over time was associated with lower temporal discounting, mediated by a reduction in perceived wait time, suggesting a possible area for future research into individual differences and interventions in intertemporal decision-making. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T11:17:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-42532e73c3924f4ea9d18ac026316453 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T11:17:56Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-42532e73c3924f4ea9d18ac0263164532024-04-11T05:31:46ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032024-01-01194e030178110.1371/journal.pone.0301781Approaching future rewards or waiting for them to arrive: Spatial representations of time and intertemporal choice.Daniel FletcherRobert HoughtonAlexa SpenceOur mental representation of the passage of time is structured by concepts of spatial motion, including an ego-moving perspective in which the self is perceived as approaching future events and a time-moving perspective in which future events are perceived as approaching the self. While previous research has found that processing spatial information in one's environment can preferentially activate either an ego-moving or time-moving temporal perspective, potential downstream impacts on everyday decision-making have received less empirical attention. Based on the idea people may feel closer to positive events they see themselves as actively approaching rather than passively waiting for, in this pre-registered study we tested the hypothesis that spatial primes corresponding to an ego-moving (vs. time-moving) perspective would attenuate temporal discounting by making future rewards feel more proximal. 599 participants were randomly assigned to one of three spatial prime conditions (ego-moving, time-moving, control) resembling map-based tasks people may engage with on digital devices, before completing measures of temporal perspective, perceived wait time, perceived control over time, and temporal discounting. Partly consistent with previous research, the results indicated that the time-moving prime successfully activated the intended temporal perspective-though the ego-moving prime did not. Contrary to our primary hypotheses, the spatial primes had no effect on either perceived wait time or temporal discounting. Processing spatial information in a map-based task therefore appears to influence how people conceptualise the passage of time, but there was no evidence for downstream effects on intertemporal preferences. Additionally, exploratory analysis indicated that greater perceived control over time was associated with lower temporal discounting, mediated by a reduction in perceived wait time, suggesting a possible area for future research into individual differences and interventions in intertemporal decision-making.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0301781&type=printable |
| spellingShingle | Daniel Fletcher Robert Houghton Alexa Spence Approaching future rewards or waiting for them to arrive: Spatial representations of time and intertemporal choice. PLoS ONE |
| title | Approaching future rewards or waiting for them to arrive: Spatial representations of time and intertemporal choice. |
| title_full | Approaching future rewards or waiting for them to arrive: Spatial representations of time and intertemporal choice. |
| title_fullStr | Approaching future rewards or waiting for them to arrive: Spatial representations of time and intertemporal choice. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Approaching future rewards or waiting for them to arrive: Spatial representations of time and intertemporal choice. |
| title_short | Approaching future rewards or waiting for them to arrive: Spatial representations of time and intertemporal choice. |
| title_sort | approaching future rewards or waiting for them to arrive spatial representations of time and intertemporal choice |
| url | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0301781&type=printable |
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