Time Is Tight: How Higher Economic Value of Time Increases Feelings of Time Pressure

48 Pages Posted: 20 Oct 2010

See all articles by Sanford E. Devoe

Sanford E. Devoe

University of Toronto - Joseph L. Rotman School of Management

Jeffrey Pfeffer

Stanford Graduate School of Business

Date Written: October 19, 2010

Abstract

The common heuristic association between scarcity and value implies that more valuable things appear scarcer (King, Hicks, & Abdelkhalik, 2009), an effect we show applies to time. In a series of studies we find that both income and wealth, which affect the economic value of time, influence perceived time pressure. Study 1 found that changes in income were associated with changes in perceived time pressure. Studies 2-4 showed that experimentally manipulating time’s perceived economic value caused greater feelings of time pressure and less patient behavior. Study 5 demonstrated that the relationship between income and time pressure was strengthened when participants were randomly assigned to think about the precise economic value of their time.

Keywords: income, scarcity, value of time, Human Resources Management, heuristic reasoning, time pressure

Suggested Citation

Devoe, Sanford E. and Pfeffer, Jeffrey, Time Is Tight: How Higher Economic Value of Time Increases Feelings of Time Pressure (October 19, 2010). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1694704 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1694704

Sanford E. Devoe (Contact Author)

University of Toronto - Joseph L. Rotman School of Management ( email )

105 St. George Street
Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E6 M5S1S4
Canada

Jeffrey Pfeffer

Stanford Graduate School of Business ( email )

655 Knight Way
Stanford, CA 94305-5015
United States

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