If you've ever noticed yourself thinking about the timing of a plan in two opposing ways – something that feels longer off than your actual time calculation -- you’re on to something. New research shows our different ways of estimating time don't necessarily move in lock-step.
If you've ever noticed yourself thinking about the timing of a plan in two opposing ways – something that feels longer off than your actual time calculation -- you’re on to something. New research shows our different ways of estimating time don't necessarily move in lock-step.
Relative time estimates refer to how distant or close a future event feels, such as "soon" or "far away." Absolute time estimates however use objective units -- days, weeks, months or years – to describe when an event may occur.
The study from researchers at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management revealed that when we consider unknown future events, such as when we'll use a gift certificate, our relative and absolute time estimates tend to contradict each other. I'll use that gift certificate soon, we might think, even though our actual objective time estimate is three months from now.
As well, the frame of mind we bring to the consideration -- whether we’re thinking broadly and abstractly, or using more concrete, detail-oriented thinking -- influences which direction our relative and absolute time estimates will flow.
Read more at University of Toronto, Rotman School of Management
Image: Jing Hu is a Ph.D. student in Organizational Behaviour and Human Resource Management at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management. She holds an M.A. and B.Sc. from Beijing Normal University. Her research interests include employee's work meaningfulness, time in organizational research, employees' well-being, and cross-culture research. She studies the ups and downs of having a meaningful job and explores the antecedents of work meaningfulness from different levels, including the macro, organizational, and individual level. Also, she studies the topics related to time in organizational research. Moreover, she is interested in the factors that impact employees' well-being. Her work appears in psychology and management journals, including Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Frontiers in Psychology, and Journal of Personnel Psychology. (Credit: Rotman School)
