Study Wessman & Ricks (1966): study US 1957 /1
- Public
- Male college students, followed 3 years, Harvard University, USA, 1957-60
- Sample
- Respondents
- N = 17
- Non Response
- 37%: 9 dropouts, incomplete; about the same happiness distribution.
- Assessment
-
Multiple assesment methods
Mood diary kept 30 days and repeated interviews and tests during three years.
Correlate
- Authors's Label
- Experience of time
- Our Classification
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- Remarks
- The group of subjects was divided into two accor- ding to their mean 'daily average mood' (AFF 3.1). Only significant correlations with average mood level were presented.
- Operationalization
- Time Metaphor Test, in which 214 meta- phors concerning time were rated in terms of their closeness or distance from the subject's experience of time. Several scales derived.
1. Descending vs ascending
2. Decomposition vs composition
3. A bad vs a good person
4. A dark vs bright future
5. Monotonous, barren and empty vs harmony and complexity
6. Passive vs active
Observed Relation with Happiness
The unhappy men experience time in terms of descending, declining images: 'a flower falling to the mold', 'the grave of aspiration'.
The unhappy men experience time as decomposition, deterioration, corruption, and decay: 'a rotting tree trunk', 'dust setting in an ancient house'.
The unhappy men personify time as a bad person, a malevolent adversary and opponent: 'the old bad cheater', 'a chronic thief', 'a relentless antagonist'.
For the unhappy men a dark future lies ahead, with unfavorable anticipation, and dreaded
foreboding: 'future misfortune', 'increasing darkness'.
The unhappy men experience a sense of monotony in time. It is slow, tedious, barren and empty: 'the marching of tired feet', 'a retarded clock', 'an empty room'.
The unhappy men express a feeling of passive subjection to time; it is something they cannot master or control to their own purposes: 'boredom unrelieved', 'something you can never stop', 'something you are never ready
for'.