Chronopsychology

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The Chrono Psychology ( gr. Χρόνος chronos "time"; ψυχολογία psychológia "psychology") deals with the temporal organization of living things. It takes into account psychological rhythms that change in connection with the time factor.

A psychological rhythm can, for example, determine for a certain person at which times of the day he has the best attention for learning, or which sleep-wake rhythm has the best effect on his well-being. For example, it is possible to create a profile of his daily performance. For this purpose, physiological body functions, mental criteria (such as attention , intellectual performance) and their changes over time are recorded. Field studies with adults deal, for example, with periodic changes in physical and mental activity at different workplaces such as factories, construction sites and offices. Studies from the end of the 19th century (Ebbinghaus, Gates, Winch, Laird) deal with the intellectual performance profile of students.

Chronopsychology is an extension of chronobiology and chronomedicine . "External influences" become effective, such as shift work, time changes due to air travel (so-called jet lag ), summer / winter time. “Inner influences” also become effective, such as biological rhythms, age-related changes or whether the person is more of a morning or evening type ( chronotype ).

Psychological rhythms of a person are influenced by the situation, the activity and by individual factors of the individual person. A certain synchronization of human and environmental rhythms is necessary for good psychological well-being and performance.

Connection to other chronosciences

Chronobiology and chronomedicine try to explain influences and effects on chronopsychology (i.e. on the temporal order and organization of living beings).

Chronopsychology deals with the effects on the experience and behavior of people as well as on their performance. It is therefore based on statements that relate to the time structure of experience, behavior and performance.

It is to be understood as a continuation of chronobiology, because the time structure of the psychic rhythms depends on biological processes. Chronopsychology is therefore dependent, for example, on fluctuations in metabolism, muscle activation, and circulatory regulation.

Time can be perceived subjectively and differently from the real processes. The subjective perception of time can be experienced as a subjective time expansion and time lapse. It is affective , cognitive and decision-making processes involved.

Analysis and Impact

A person's ability to function psychologically as a function of time is predetermined. He can consciously and purposefully overload himself for a limited period of time and thus overplay his physiologically prescribed time regulations, but he cannot override them. This is useful for coping with special requirement situations. Frequent or long-term use of this option, known as an “emergency reserve”, has harmful effects.

Therefore, the recommendation belongs to the mental hygiene, in the distribution of mental tension and relaxation over the day and in the week, the rhythmic fluctuations of the physical conditions, z. B. the ability to concentrate. The ability to adapt to changed time structures varies from person to person, as can be seen more clearly when traveling by plane from west to east, even more clearly with shift workers.

When analyzing neuroses , time variables must also be taken into account, for example if a failure is due to the inability to manage time economically or if there are conflicts between partners, one of whom is a distinct morning person, the other an equally determined evening person . Those who are less assertive can gradually get caught up in a disruptive regulation.

The psychotherapist tries to find a compromise between the individual's temporal characteristics and the environmental requirements that can ensure that they remain healthy and productive. In addition, psychotherapy also uses chronopsychology for some self-control techniques , e.g. B. for waking appointments and for learning processes. This makes it easier to learn to relax if you practice mental relaxation in phases (see autogenic training ).

Disturbances in the experience of time appear in depression as a stagnation of time and in mania as time flies in a particularly blatant form; they are based on a dysregulation of the psychic drive. Normal, but not yet sufficiently scientifically clarified, is that in the second half of a person's life, and especially in old age, the year seems to pass faster than in childhood and adolescence.

Social lifestyle

Chronopsychology, which is still relatively young, is beginning to provide initial indications for shaping social life. Some of these are warnings, namely when it comes to the disadvantageous aspects of technical influences, such as the frequent interruption of natural rhythms of life since the spread of electrical lighting as well as limited flexible working hours (see flexible working hours ) or interventions in the hormonal control of human " internal clock ”.

See also

literature

  • Olga Megalakaki, Alain Lancry, Udo Kittler (eds.): Aménager les temps de vie des enfants? Rhythmization of Childhood: A Look at France . The Blue Owl, 2006, ISBN 978-3-89924-161-7 . Chronopsychology as a reference science has a tradition in France.

Web links

Wiktionary: Morgenmensch  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Georges Walther: New school rhythms in Luxembourg . Thesis, Department: Psychopedagogy, 1999/2000