Relating Meaning in Life to Subjective Time Experience among Chinese Adolescents

Abstract

Meaning and time are eternal components in human life. Living meaningfully in a limited lifetime is a common pursuit. However, with scientific understanding and technology development, the meaning crisis and time plight have become two major dilemmas in modern society. In recent years, topics on meaning in life and time experience have attracted empirical psychological research. By linking adolescents’ meaning in life and subjective time experience together, this research aims to explore the psychological mechanism behind the adaptive function of meaning in life and seek more understandings of the individual differences in subjective time experience. The research employed eight studies to examine the associations of meaning in life with time perspective, subjective time length, and time awareness.

In the first section, the role of time perspective in the self-regulatory mechanism of meaning in life was tested through Study 1 and Study 2. In Study 1, meaning in life, time perspective, and proactive coping were measured. The results showed that meaning in life significantly predicted different time perspectives, except for the Present-Hedonistic dimension. Moreover, Past-Positive, Past-Negative, Present-Fatalistic, and Future time perspectives mediated the relationship between meaning in life and proactive coping. In Study 2, meaning in life, time perspective, and self-regulation were assessed. The results showed that meaning in life significantly predicted a balanced time perspective. Furthermore, balanced time perspective mediated the relationship between meaning in life and self-regulation.

In the second section, the effects of meaning in life on subjective time length were examined through Study 3, Study 4, and Study 5. In Study 3, after completing the measures of meaning in life and time perspective, participants made judgments of several long periods. The results showed that meaning in life did not significantly predict subjective time length. In Study 4, participants evaluated subjective time length regarding personally experienced events. The results showed that meaning in life moderated the relationship between event valence and subjective time length. With objective time controlled, negative events were perceived as temporally closer to the present than positive events, but this effect was only significant among participants with low meaning in life. In Study 5, participants evaluated subjective time length regarding time points in the past and future. The results showed that meaning in life moderated the relationship between time frame and subjective time length. With objective time controlled, future time points were perceived as temporally closer to the present than past time points. Still, this effect was only significant among participants with high meaning in life.

In the third section, the relationship between meaning in life and time awareness was investigated through Study 6, Study 7, and Study 8. Study 6 showed that adolescents with higher time pressure perceived time as passing faster. Adolescents with higher meaning in life were more likely to perceive time as typically passing fast. Moreover, meaning in life weakened the relationship between time pressure and subjective passage-of-time judgment. In Study 7, a metaphor-based task was used to assess time awareness from speed and attitude aspects. The results showed that adolescents with higher meaning in life were more likely to perceive time as passing fast and consider the passage of time as a positive feeling. In Study 8, feelings of the passage of time were assessed as indicators of time awareness. The results showed that adolescents with higher meaning in life were more likely to experience low levels of negative emotion on the passage of time, infer the passage of time based on real-life details, and make behavioral adjustments according to the subjective passage of time. Furthermore, balanced time perspective mediated the relationship between meaning in life and time awareness.

In sum, this research lent empirical support to the primary hypothesis that meaning in life can influence subjective time experience. In conjunction with previous studies demonstrating that meaning in life contributes to human functioning, the current studies extended the research line by highlighting the role of subjective time experience in the adaptive function of meaning in life. Moreover, the present studies justified meaning in life as a critical individual-difference factor of subjective time experience, providing further understanding of time experience in the field of psychology.

Date of Award	28 Dec 2021
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	City University of Hong Kong
Supervisor	Nian Zhong (External Supervisor), Chau Kiu Jacky CHEUNG (Supervisor) & Xiaodong YUE (Supervisor)