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In the present doctoral dissertation we examined, through six empirical studies, how people from different cultures (American, Spanish, Serbian, Bosniak, Croatian, Moroccan, Turkish, and Chinese) and religions or religious attitudes (mainly Christian, Muslim, and non-believers) think about time. In particular, we studied the role of temporal focus (i.e., attention paid to the past versus the future) and religiosity —factors that vary cross-culturally— on five dimensions of temporal thought: where we place the past and future, whether in front or behind (spatialization); the distance we perceive to past and future events; the similarity of our current self to our past- and future- self (selfcontinuity); the economic valuation of past and future events (discounting); and how far we place the horizon when contemplating the past and future (depth)., En la presente tesis doctoral examinamos, a través de seis estudios empíricos, cómo las personas de diferentes culturas (estadounidenses, españoles, serbios, bosniacos, croatas, marroquíes, turcos y chinos) y religiones o actitudes religiosas (principalmente cristianos, musulmanes, agnósticos y ateos) piensan sobre el tiempo. En particular, estudiamos el rol del foco temporal (es decir, la atención prestada al pasado y al futuro) y la religiosidad — factores que varían interculturalmente— sobre cinco dimensiones del pensamiento temporal: dónde situamos el pasado y el futuro, si delante o detrás (espacialización); la distancia que percibimos hacia eventos pasados y futuros; la similaridad de nuestro yo actual con el yo pasado y futuro (auto-continuidad); la valoración económica de eventos pasados y futuros (descuento); y cuán lejos situamos el horizonte al contemplar el pasado y el futuro (profundidad)., Tesis Univ. Granada.

Does temporal thought extend asymmetrically into the past and the future? Do asymmetries depend on cultural differences in temporal focus? Some studies suggest that people in Western (arguably future-focused) cultures perceive the future as being closer, more valued, and deeper than the past (a future asymmetry), while the opposite is shown in East Asian (arguably past-focused) cultures. The proposed explanations of these findings predict a negative relationship between past and future: the more we delve into the future, the less we delve into the past. Here, we report findings that pose a significant challenge to this view. We presented several tasks previously used to measure temporal asymmetry (self-continuity, time discounting, temporal distance, and temporal depth) and two measures of temporal focus to American, Spanish, Serbian, Bosniak, Croatian, Moroccan, Turkish, and Chinese participants (total N = 1,075). There was an overall future asymmetry in all tasks except for temporal distance, but the asymmetry only varied with cultural temporal focus in time discounting. Past and future held a positive (instead of negative) relation in the mind: the more we delve into the future, the more we delve into the past. Finally, the findings suggest that temporal thought has a complex underlying structure., Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivity; Predoctoral Contract

The temporal focus hypothesis (TFH) proposes that whether the past or the future is conceptualized as being located in front depends on 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 (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 10 independently collected (sub)cultural groups in China and Vietnam (N= 899). Further analysis of the whole data set (N= 2,097) showed that the group-level relation arose at the individual level and allowed precise quantification of its influence. Finally, in an effort to apply the model to all relevant published data sets, we included recent data from Britain and South Africa: The former, but not the latter, fitted the model well. Temporal focus is a central factor that shapes how people around the world think of time in spatial terms., Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivity