Abstract
We are products of past events and experiences, but only a few of them linger in our memory to affect our present lives. The current research examined whether there are individual differences in how far people look back to judge their present life satisfaction using the evolutionary framework of life history theory. The results showed that perceived ecological uncertainty interacts with a key aspect of life history strategy (childhood socioeconomic status; SES) to influence the span of retrospective mental time travel. When asked to list past events that had crossed their minds during life satisfaction judgments, individuals who grew up in low-SES environments mentioned more recent events, whereas individuals who grew up in high-SES environments wrote more distant past events. This difference was found only when the perception of ecological uncertainty was high, but not when it was low. It appears that life history strategy shapes people's retrospective lens during life satisfaction judgments.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 138-142 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Personality and Individual Differences |
| Volume | 129 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2018 Jul 15 |
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All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Psychology(all)
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Retrospective time travel in life satisfaction judgment : A life history approach. / Choi, Soyeon; Suh, Eun Kook.
In: Personality and Individual Differences, Vol. 129, 15.07.2018, p. 138-142.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Retrospective time travel in life satisfaction judgment
T2 - A life history approach
AU - Choi, Soyeon
AU - Suh, Eun Kook
PY - 2018/7/15
Y1 - 2018/7/15
N2 - We are products of past events and experiences, but only a few of them linger in our memory to affect our present lives. The current research examined whether there are individual differences in how far people look back to judge their present life satisfaction using the evolutionary framework of life history theory. The results showed that perceived ecological uncertainty interacts with a key aspect of life history strategy (childhood socioeconomic status; SES) to influence the span of retrospective mental time travel. When asked to list past events that had crossed their minds during life satisfaction judgments, individuals who grew up in low-SES environments mentioned more recent events, whereas individuals who grew up in high-SES environments wrote more distant past events. This difference was found only when the perception of ecological uncertainty was high, but not when it was low. It appears that life history strategy shapes people's retrospective lens during life satisfaction judgments.
AB - We are products of past events and experiences, but only a few of them linger in our memory to affect our present lives. The current research examined whether there are individual differences in how far people look back to judge their present life satisfaction using the evolutionary framework of life history theory. The results showed that perceived ecological uncertainty interacts with a key aspect of life history strategy (childhood socioeconomic status; SES) to influence the span of retrospective mental time travel. When asked to list past events that had crossed their minds during life satisfaction judgments, individuals who grew up in low-SES environments mentioned more recent events, whereas individuals who grew up in high-SES environments wrote more distant past events. This difference was found only when the perception of ecological uncertainty was high, but not when it was low. It appears that life history strategy shapes people's retrospective lens during life satisfaction judgments.
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85043779925&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.paid.2018.03.017
DO - 10.1016/j.paid.2018.03.017
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85043779925
VL - 129
SP - 138
EP - 142
JO - Personality and Individual Differences
JF - Personality and Individual Differences
SN - 0191-8869
ER -