A New Perspective on the Relationships between Individual Factors and Time Estimates

Abstract

Despite its abundant literature, the timing research field does not offer any comparison of prospective and retrospective time estimates emerging from a within-subjects design. Likewise, the relationships between these estimates and individual factors, within such a design, have never been investigated. The present study addresses these issues. Ninety-two participants retrospectively and prospectively estimated the duration of an Internet surfing task and completed several questionnaires (e.g., personality). Results showed that (a) prospective time estimates were longer than retrospective ones for only 58% of the participants and (b) the relationships between individual factors and time estimates differed as a function of the fact that a participant had or not a longer prospective time estimate. The discussion explains the methodological, theoretical and practical impacts emerging from this new method for studying the relationships between individual factors and time estimates in daily life-like situations.