The vanishing hours: Future temporal focus and the passage of time in the digital era

Papastamatelou, J, Wittmann, M, Schoetensack, C, Klegr, T, Goncikowska, K, Giner-Domínguez, G, Chappuis, S, Boente, MF, Meteier, Q, Unger, A, Pestana, JV, Valenzuela, R, Codina, N, Černohorská, V, Martin-Soelch, C, Ogden, R ORCID: 0000-0002-0931-1986 and Witowska, J (2026) The vanishing hours: Future temporal focus and the passage of time in the digital era. Personality and Individual Differences, 258. ISSN 0191-8869

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Abstract

In this study, we utilized two newly developed and psychometrically validated instruments—the Immersion in Digital Life Scale (IDLS) and the Quality of Digital Experience Scale (QDES)—to investigate the relationships among Immersion in Digital Life (IDL), the Quality of Digital Experiences (QDE), individual Temporal Focus (TF), and the subjective Passage of Time (PoT). The study sample comprised 7536 participants across six European countries. Our findings indicate that a higher IDLS score and a higher QDES score are associated with an accelerated PoT. Our results revealed that a higher Future Temporal Focus (TF-Future) is related to an accelerated PoT. Moreover, there is an indirect effect of TF-Future on PoT via IDLS and the dimension Time and Efficiency of QDES. Specifically, individuals with a stronger TF-Future tend to engage in digital life to a greater extent and experience its beneficial effects, which in turn contributes to a faster subjective experience of time. Country-level differences emerged: participants in Poland reported the highest levels of IDL and the fastest PoT, while individuals in the United Kingdom exhibited the strongest Past Temporal Focus (TF-Past) and the slowest PoT. The results shed more light on the consequences of digital usage on time perception.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	5202 Biological Psychology; 52 Psychology; 3 Good Health and Well Being; 1701 Psychology; 1702 Cognitive Sciences; Social Psychology; 5202 Biological psychology; 5205 Social and personality psychology
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Divisions:	Psychology (from Sep 2019)
Publisher:	Elsevier
Date of acceptance:	31 March 2026
Date of first compliant Open Access:	5 May 2026
Date Deposited:	05 May 2026 09:53
Last Modified:	05 May 2026 09:53
DOI or ID number:	10.1016/j.paid.2026.113809
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/28409

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