Influence of time on social preferences: implications for life-span development.
Level 3 - non-randomized controlled study
Non-randomized quasi-experimental and natural experiment comparison groups (by design analogy, not clinical CEBM)
PubMed 10632147 · doi:10.1037//0882-7974.14.4.595
What was done
Investigators tested socioemotional selectivity theory by assessing social partner preferences (familiar versus novel) among younger and older adults in the United States and Hong Kong. The study evaluated baseline age differences, tested responses to hypothetical scenarios manipulating perceived time horizons (imagining an expansive future or a time constraint), and measured social partner preferences in Hong Kong across three time points surrounding the 1997 handover to the People's Republic of China (one year prior, two months prior, and one year after).
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical values, sample sizes, or test statistics. At baseline in both countries, older adults preferred familiar social partners while younger adults did not. When older adults were asked to imagine an expansive future, their preference for familiar partners disappeared. When younger and older adults faced a hypothesized time constraint, both preferred familiar partners. In Hong Kong, only older adults preferred familiar partners one year before the handover; two months before the handover, both younger and older adults preferred familiar partners; one year after the handover, the preference again occurred only in older adults.
Why it matters
The paper indicates that age-related shifts toward emotionally meaningful relationships reflect psychological perceptions of remaining time rather than chronological aging itself. This provides empirical evidence that social motivation can dynamically adapt to expanding or contracting temporal horizons.
Limits
The abstract provides no sample size, demographic details, exact proportions, effect sizes, or confidence intervals. The experimental manipulations relied on hypothetical thought prompts, and the natural experiment involved a unique sociopolitical event that may not generalize to other forms of perceived time limitation.
Cited by
- supports Research by Laura Carstensen shows that when younger individuals are given a limited time perspective, such as being told they only have 5 to 10 years left to live, they make choices similar to older adults.