Numerous studies have established that emotional stimuli exert a significant influence on perceived time. Furthermore, the current mood of the perceiver can independently impact perceived time, yet few studies have specifically explored how mood contributes to the perception of time. Particularly unclear is which features of moods contribute to the perception of time as either prolonged or shortened. Addressing this gap, our study delves into the influence of positive moods, specifically amusement and tenderness, as well as negative moods, fear and anger, on perceived time.
To induce specific moods, participants watched emotionally charged film excerpts, and subsequently, they engaged in a temporal bisection task to estimate the duration of a black circle on the screen. The results reveal that participants induced into fear and amusement moods tended to overestimate time compared to those in anger, tenderness, and neutral conditions. Despite the diverse valence dimensions of emotions, similar temporal distortions were observed. Additional analyses in the study suggest that the perception of extended time is associated with heightened arousal, motivational intensity, and uncertainty induced by emotions. These findings illustrate that mood contributes to temporal distortions in a multidimensional manner beyond the valence dimension of emotions.