Whose Time Flies: Meaning in Life Influences Time Awareness

The purpose of this study is to systematically investigate the individual-differences factors related to time awareness in everyday life. Three hundred and nine individuals in China, from 14- to 75-year old, were sampled to complete a questionnaire that consists of instruments measuring time awareness, meaning in life, achievement motivation, affective state and perceived remaining lifetime. The results showed that meaning in life positively predicted present passage-of-time judgment but not retrospective passage-of-time judgment. Meaning in life mediated the effects of achievement motivation and affective state on present passage-of-time judgment. Moreover, perceived remaining lifetime played a role in the associations by moderating the effect of achievement motivation on meaning in life. The findings aligned with socioemotional selectivity theory, which explains that people shift from knowledge-related goals to emotion-related goals as the end of life becomes imminent.