The current study examined the effect of psychological distance, temporal orientation, and mental timeline on spatial representation of time. In Experiment 1, 3 (social distance: self, friend, unfamiliar) X 3 (temporal distance: past, present, future)...
The current study examined the effect of psychological distance, temporal orientation, and mental timeline on spatial representation of time. In Experiment 1, 3 (social distance: self, friend, unfamiliar) X 3 (temporal distance: past, present, future) and 3 (social distance: self, friend, unfamiliar) X 2 (temporal orientation: past, future) within-subject designs were conducted. The dependent variable was spatial representation of time. The results revealed that people’s present temporal period occupied more space compared to other temporal periods (i.e., past, future), p < .05. However, there was no main effect of social distance (i.e., self, friend, unfamiliar). In addition, people tended to feel closer in the past than in the future. In Experiments 2A and 2B, the independent variables were temporal orientation (past, future) and mental timeline (congruent, incongruent), and the dependent variable was spatial expression of time. The results showed that there were significant interactions between temporal orientation and mental timeline, p < .05. The present study could be the foundation for the user interface of Social Network Service (SNS) that includes a mental time line or the user interface of a photo album, calendar, or scheduler on a smartphone.