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

Abstract

The covid-19 global pandemic has significantly impacted on the daily lives of people across the world. One consequence of this has been significant distortion to the speed at which time feels like it is passing during day-to-day life in comparison with prior to the pandemic. The current study sought to further understanding of the impact of the pandemic on temporal experience by exploring individual differences in the subjective length of the first 12 months of the pandemic in the UK. Using an online questionnaire, subjective judgments of the perceived length of the preceding 12 months were taken. In addition, measures of affect, task load and satisfaction with current levels of social interaction, physical activity, conformity with regulations, perceived covid risk and shielding status were taken. The results showed that only 9% of participants reported that the preceding 12 months felt like 12 months. The majority of participants (57%) reported that it felt like the pandemic had lasted for longer than 12 months, and this feeling was stronger for those who indicated greater levels of depression and anxiety, reduced physical activity, reduced satisfaction with social interaction and being advised to shield.

Experiencing a slow passage of time was an indicator of social and temporal disorientation during the Covid-19 pandemic

“…Our results confirm previous studies that found a slow passage of time to be more prevalent than a fast passage of time 1 , 5 , 9 , and longer temporal distances to be more prevalent than shorter temporal distances 9 , 13 . Our results also show bimodality for both PoT (Passage of Time) and TD (Temporal Distance), as found in previous studies 2 , 4 , 11 , 13 . In other words, while a slow passage of time was the more prevalent direction of disruption in PoT, a notable number of participants experienced a faster passage of time.…”

“…A second key aspect of time judgements corresponds to subjective temporal distances 2 , 4 , 5 , 9 , 13 . Temporal distance judgements express the subject’s sense of the length of time having elapsed between a given past event and the present moment at the time of questioning (e.g.…”

“…Shared emphasis is put on the association between the slow passage of time and boredom 1 , 2 , 4 , depression or psychological distress 2 , 8 , 16 , perceived isolation or an overall decrease of satisfaction in terms of social interactions 4 , 9 , 11 . As the slow passage of time is usually associated with longer temporal distances, the abovementioned emphasis was also expressed for long temporal distance judgements, when investigated 2 , 9 , 13 .…”

“…How long does this period feel? Shorter Y 3rd wave in Germany, 2021 Ogden and Piovesan 13 TD It is now 1 year since the beginning of the first national lockdown (23rd March 2020). How long ago does it feel for you?…”

“…This means that across all aspects of the experience of the pandemic, whether time passed quickly or slowly was one of the most divisive phenomenological features, along with whether elapsed time felt shorter or longer. Moreover, a previous analysis of qualitative reports gathered during lockdowns and curfews in France and in the UK 23 found that a substantial number of people reported that time passed both quickly and slowly at once depending on the perspective and temporal scale they had in mind, a confusion-inducing phenomenon which is conducive to temporal vertigo 5 , 13 , 24 . Such puzzling reports were widely documented during the pandemic 25 and are investigated both for passage of time and temporal distance judgements 13 .…”