Effects of Perceived Health on Time Perception

Two online studies investigated the nature of the relationship between health and the perception of future time while controlling for chronological age and subjective age. In the initial pilot study, I analyzed the relationship between multiple facets of health and open-ended future time perspective, planning behaviours, and the subjective passage of time. This study showed a significant positive relationship between perceived health and time perception, such that participants with a more positive self-evaluation of their current health reported a more open-ended future, more future planning behaviours, and that the passage of time felt longer. Study 2 used temporal comparisons to momentarily manipulate participants' subjective physical health, prior to measuring time perception variables. Although the experimental manipulation of subjective health was not significant and causal links of health and time perception could not be determined, subjective health was again correlated with more open-ended future time perception and more future planning.