Mental association of time and valence revealed with a novel chronometric approach: The positive-future effect

Two recent studies utilized indirect response procedures (i.e., a sentence completion task and the Implicit Association Test) and suggest that people evaluate the future more positively than the past (Kaup et al., Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 612,720, 2021; Ulrich et al., Memory & Cognition, 52, 444-458, 2024). This present article reports a novel chronometric approach and a self-report study examining whether this relationship can be observed consistently. In one part of the chronometric study, participants were instructed to respond verbally with the words "past" and "tomorrow" to negatively and positively connotated words. In the positive-future condition, participants responded with "tomorrow" to positive and "yesterday" to negative words; in the positive-past condition, they responded with "yesterday" to positive and "tomorrow" to negative words. In the other part, participants responded verbally with "good" and "bad" to time-related words. In the positive-future condition, they responded with "good" to future-related and "bad" to past-related words; in the positive-past condition, they responded with "good" to past-related and "bad" to future-related words. Response times were shorter in the positive-future than in the positive-past condition, suggesting that participants consistently evaluate the future more positively than the past (i.e., the positive-future effect). This strengthens the view that the positive-future effect is robust and general. Several possible mechanisms of why this effect emerges are discussed. The self-report study, in contrast, indicated no significant difference in individuals' perceptions of the past compared to the future. This may be attributed to a positivity bias in recalling past events, which may mask the differences in how people perceive the past versus the future.