A Cross-Cultural Principle Of Temporal Spatialization
- Carmen Callizo, Mind, Brain, and Behavior Research Center, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
- Slavica Tutnjević, Dept. of Psychology, University of Banja-Luka, Banja-Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Maja Pandza, Dept. of Psychology, University of Mostar, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Marc Ouellet, Mind, Brain, and Behavior Research Center, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
- Alexander Kranjec, Psychology Department, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
- Sladjana Ilić, Dept. of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Tuzla, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Yan Gu, Experimental Psychology, UCL, London, United Kingdom
- Tilbe Göksun, Department of Psychology, Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey
- Sobh Chahboun, Queen Maud University College, Trondheim , Trøndelag, Norway
- Daniel Casasanto, Departments of Human Development and Psychology , Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States
- Julio Santiago, Mind, Brain, and Behavior Research Center, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
AbstractThe Temporal Focus Hypothesis proposes that a person's tendency to conceptualize either the past or the future as being located in front of them depends on their temporal focus: the balance of attention paid to the past (tradition) and the future (progress). How general is the TFH and to what extent can cultures and subcultures be placed on a single line relating time spatialization and temporal focus in spite of stark differences in language, religion, history, and economic development? Data from 10 Western and Middle Eastern (sub)cultural groups (N=1198) were used to derive a linear model relating aggregated temporal focus and proportion of future-in-front responses. This model then successfully fitted nine independently collected (sub)cultural groups in China and Vietnam (N=841). A logistic mixed model computed over the whole dataset (N=2039) showed that the group-level relation arose at the individual level and allowed precise quantification of its influence. Temporal focus shapes how people around the world think of time in spatial terms.