Abstract
Time spent with others may be perceived as a limited resource that one can gain or lose or as a nonzero-sum resource that people share and co-create. Is perceiving time as a nonzero-sum resource associated with better life outcomes and how do interpersonal goals shape how one perceives time? What are the predictors of these time perceptions? A sample of 501 Japanese adults completed measures of time perception, compassionate and self-image goals, basic needs satisfaction, subjective well-being, perceived stress, time affluence, and objective time scarcity. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the newly developed time perception scale had four correlated factors: time taken, taking time, offering time, and nonzero-sum time. A structural equation modeling further showed that nonzero-sum time perception was associated with basic needs satisfaction, greater subjective well-being, and lower perceived stress. In contrast, zero-sum time perception (more specifically the perception that one is taking others’ time) was negatively associated with basic needs satisfaction and subjective well-being, and positively with perceived stress. Compassionate goals to support others were associated negatively with zero-sum time perception and positively with nonzeo-sum time perception whereas self-image goals to project a desirable image of the self were correlated with zero-sum time perception and unexpectedly, also with nonzero-sum time perception. This research points to the possibility that perceiving time as nonzero-sum resource rather than a zero-sum resource promotes happiness.
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Notes
To ensure statistical stability when testing the hypothesized model using structural equation modeling, I followed Kline’s (1998) recommendation that the ratio of the number of participants to the number of model parameters be no less than 5:1. The hypothesized model in Fig. 2 has 108 parameters and the model in Fig. 3 has 105 parameters; thus, the recommended number of participants was 540. Miura and Kobayashi (2015) reported that the average rate for satisfice responses in Japanese survey companies was 13.3% and the survey company advocated that the average response rate was 76%. These numbers suggested that approximately 800 needed to be invited for the second survey.
Time affluence was measured combining items from different scales to ensure high reliability and validity. The 9-item subscale from Kasser and Sheldon’s (2009) Material and Time Affluence Scale had never been validated in Japan. Furukawa et al.’s (1993) subscale was developed in Japan but had only four items (which may result in low reliability) and had no reversed items. The data showed that each of the scales had good reliability (Cronbach alphas were .94 for Kasser and Sheldon’s scale, .83 for Furukawa et al.’s scale, and .71 for the two newly added items) and they positively correlated with each other (rs = .68 to .85). Using either one of the subscale resulted in the same finding as using the composite scale.
The hypothesized model in Fig. 1 was split into two models because the sample size was not large enough to test the full model at once.
Again, self-image goals were associated with greater perception that time is taken away (β = .30, z = 4.42, p < .001) and that one is taking other people’s time (β = .19, z = 2.88, p = .004) whereas compassionate goals were associated with lower perception that time is taken away (β = − .15, z = − 2.26, p = .024) and that one is taking other people’s time (β = − .12, z = − 1.78, p = .075). Offering time to others was positively associated with self-image goals (β = .41, z = 6.57, p < .001), but not with compassionate goals (β = .07, z = 1.15, p = .25). As predicted, nonzero-sum time perception was positively associated with compassionate goals (β = .29, z = 4.51, p < .001) but again, it was also associated with self-image goals (β = .33, z = 5.12, p < .001).
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Acknowledgements
I thank Dr. Jennifer Crocker for providing helpful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript and Dr. Yuki Miyagawa for his assistance with the back-translation. This research was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 15K17254.
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Niiya, Y. My Time, Your Time, or Our Time? Time Perception and Its Associations with Interpersonal Goals and Life Outcomes. J Happiness Stud 20, 1439–1455 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-018-0007-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-018-0007-y