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Psychological Time, Time Perspective, Culture and Conflict Resolution

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Culture and Neural Frames of Cognition and Communication

Part of the book series: On Thinking ((ONTHINKING))

Abstract

This chapter discusses the dimension of time in relation to various aspects of life. After presenting several types of time – physical, biological and psychological time – the relationship between time and personality and time and behavior are discussed. Two cultural categories are defined – the Western technological culture and the “non-Western” cultures, differing in their attitude toward time: Western technological culture, having a linear and quantitative perception of time, as opposed to “non-Western” cultures, having a cyclical and qualitative perception of time. The concept “time perspective” – the subjective organization and perception of the past, the present and the future – is introduced, and differences in time perspective between individuals and between cultures are discussed. It is argued that time is strongly related to the emergence of conflicts. Several time-related heuristics and aspects linking dimensions of time to the emergence of conflicts are presented. As conflict resolution processes take time, negotiators’ relation to time influences those processes. Time is often tactically used as a source of power by the party lacking a sense of urgency, and is frequently used in setting deadlines. And time is essential in building trust between negotiating parties. As the temporal perspective is a major factor in conflict resolution, holding future time perspectives by both parties might be optimal.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. New School of Psychology, IDC Herzeliya, Herzeliya, Israel

    Dan Zakay

  2. Department of Psychology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Dida Fleisig

  3. Department of Behavioral Sciences, The College of Management Academic Studies, Rishon Le-Zion, Israel

    Dida Fleisig

Authors
  1. Dan Zakay
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  2. Dida Fleisig
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dan Zakay .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Psychology, Peking University, Yiheyuan Road 5, Beijing, 100871, China, People's Republic

    Shihui Han

  2. Human Science Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Goethestr. 31, Munich, 80336, Germany

    Ernst Pöppel

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Zakay, D., Fleisig, D. (2011). Psychological Time, Time Perspective, Culture and Conflict Resolution. In: Han, S., Pöppel, E. (eds) Culture and Neural Frames of Cognition and Communication. On Thinking. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-15423-2_8

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