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When Does the Future Begin? Time Metrics Matter, Connecting Present and Future Selves

Overview of attention for article published in Psychological Science, April 2015
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About this Attention Score

  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (99th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (89th percentile)

Mentioned by

news
28 news outlets
blogs
10 blogs
policy
1 policy source
twitter
63 tweeters
peer_reviews
1 peer review site
facebook
6 Facebook pages
video
1 video uploader

Citations

dimensions_citation
32 Dimensions

Readers on

mendeley
191 Mendeley
citeulike
1 CiteULike
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Title
When Does the Future Begin? Time Metrics Matter, Connecting Present and Future Selves
Published in
Psychological Science, April 2015
DOI 10.1177/0956797615572231
Pubmed ID
Authors

Neil A. Lewis, Daphna Oyserman

Abstract

People assume they should attend to the present; their future self can handle the future. This seemingly plausible rule of thumb can lead people astray, in part because some future events require current action. In order for the future to energize and motivate current action, it must feel imminent. To create this sense of imminence, we manipulated time metric-the units (e.g., days, years) in which time is considered. People interpret accessible time metrics in two ways: If preparation for the future is under way (Studies 1 and 2), people interpret metrics as implying when a future event will occur. If preparation is not under way (Studies 3-5), they interpret metrics as implying when preparation should start (e.g., planning to start saving 4 times sooner for a retirement in 10,950 days instead of 30 years). Time metrics mattered not because they changed how distal or important future events felt (Study 6), but because they changed how connected and congruent their current and future selves felt (Study 7).

Twitter Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 63 tweeters who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 191 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Germany 2 1%
Italy 2 1%
United States 2 1%
Netherlands 1 <1%
New Zealand 1 <1%
United Kingdom 1 <1%
Trinidad and Tobago 1 <1%
Spain 1 <1%
Unknown 180 94%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 45 24%
Researcher 27 14%
Student > Master 26 14%
Student > Doctoral Student 16 8%
Student > Bachelor 14 7%
Other 36 19%
Unknown 27 14%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Psychology 96 50%
Business, Management and Accounting 19 10%
Social Sciences 8 4%
Engineering 7 4%
Medicine and Dentistry 3 2%
Other 24 13%
Unknown 34 18%

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 329. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 15 May 2023.
All research outputs
#91,863
of 23,959,899 outputs
Outputs from Psychological Science
#243
of 4,234 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#956
of 268,142 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Psychological Science
#8
of 66 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 23,959,899 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 99th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 4,234 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 83.5. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 94% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 268,142 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 66 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 89% of its contemporaries.