Giving time away can give you more of it, says study
July 15th, 2012 - 5:34 pm ICT by IANSWashington, July 15 (IANS) Many people are strapped for time, finding it difficult to complete their multiple tasks within a day. However, a new study suggests that volunteering our limited time - giving it away - may actually increase our sense of unhurried leisure.
Across four different experiments, researchers found that people’s subjective sense of having time, called ‘time affluence,’ can be increased: compared with wasting time, spending time on oneself, and even gaining a windfall of ‘free’ time, spending time on others increased participants’ feelings of time affluence, the journal Psychological Science reports.
Psychological scientist Cassie Mogilner from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, who led the study, believes this is because giving away time boosts one’s sense of personal competence and efficiency, and this in turn stretches out time in our minds.
Ultimately, giving time makes people more willing to commit to future engagements despite their busy schedules, according to a Wharton School statement.
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Tags: affluence, efficiency, engagements, feelings, free time, giving time, limited time, participants, personal competence, psychological science, psychological scientist, spending time, stretches, study suggests that, subjective sense, university of pennsylvania, wasting time, wharton school, windfall