Moving away from a bad past and toward a good future: feelings influence the metaphorical understanding of time.

People move close to things they like and away from things they dislike. Can the same be applied to temporal events? Through alternating between the ego-moving and time-moving metaphorical perspectives of time, people can manage the psychological distance between themselves and various temporal events by staying away from unpleasant experiences and bringing pleasant ones within reach. Consistent with theoretical predictions, 4 studies showed that recalling an unpleasant event from the past prompted the ego-moving perspective, whereas recalling a pleasant past event prompted the time-moving perspective. In contrast, anticipating a pleasant future invoked the ego-moving perspective, whereas anticipating an unpleasant future invoked the time-moving perspective. The valence of feelings explained the systematic shifts in how time is metaphorically understood. These findings highlight the role of basic psychological processes in temporal reasoning. Clinical implications for rumination and mood disorders are discussed.

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