Experiences of distortions to the passage of time during the Argentinian Covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

The Coronavirus-19 global pandemic has forced many governments around the world to enforce “lockdowns” to curtail the spread of the virus. Studies conducted in the UK, France, Italy and Brazil have demonstrated that one consequence of these lockdowns is significant distortion to the speed of the passage of time. The current study sought to establish how the passage of time was experienced during the Argentinian lockdown. An online questionnaire was used to measure passage of time judgments for the day and the week, physical activity, satisfaction with social interaction, the extent to which daily routines had changed due to covid and demographic data. The results show that distortions to the passage of time were widely experienced during the lockdown in Argentina. There was a tendency for participants to report time passing more quickly than normal. A faster passage of time was associated with being a woman, of younger age and more physically active. A slower passage of time was therefore associated with being a man, of older age and less physically active. The results indicate that whilst distortions to the passage of time during the covid-19 crisis appear to be a global phenomenon, cross-cultural differences are apparent in the factors which influence temporal experience.

How long was it for you? Memories of the duration of the UK covid-19 lockdown

“…This replicates earlier findings from England's second lockdown [2] and 11 months into Iraq's pandemic [9]. The tendency for people to report experiencing the first 12 months of the pandemic as longer or shorter than its actual duration is perhaps unsurprising given the tendency for people to experience distortions to time during the days and weeks of the pandemic [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. The changes in life as result of covid have therefore not only affected our short-term subjective experience of duration, but also our long-term representations of the pandemic's length.…”

“…One critical issue is how our memory for the subjective duration of the pandemic influences individual and societal recovery from the pandemic. During periods of trauma, a slowing of the passage of time often occurs which results in a subjective lengthening of the period of trauma [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][11][12][13][14]. This can also result in the period of trauma being recalled as longer and more recent than it actually was [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][11][12][13][14].…”

“…During periods of trauma, a slowing of the passage of time often occurs which results in a subjective lengthening of the period of trauma [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][11][12][13][14]. This can also result in the period of trauma being recalled as longer and more recent than it actually was [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][11][12][13][14]. The term temporal vertigo is used to describe the experience of confusion and anxiety about where and when we belong in the timeline of past, present and future [11].…”

“…A well-documented consequence of the societal changes resulting from the covid-19 global pandemic is a change in the experience of the passage of time [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. Studies conducted in the UK [1,2], France [3,4], Italy [5,6], Argentina [7], Brazil [8], Iraq [9] and Uruguay [10] as well as a Europe wide study [10] have all demonstrated that during the pandemic, people experienced significant distortions to the speed at which time was passing in comparison with prior to the pandemic. In France [3,4] and Italy [5,6] citizens reported a slowing of the passage of time during the first weeks and months of the pandemic when social and physical distancing measures were enforced to reduce the spread of the virus.…”

“…In Brazil, the pandemic was associated with an increased sense of time expansion and a reduction in time pressure [8]. In Argentina however, there was a tendency for people to experience an acceleration in time during the pandemic in comparison to before [7].…”