The effect of language and temporal focus on cognition, economic behaviour, and well-being

The present dissertation studies the effects of language and temporal focus on cognition, economic behaviour, and well-being. It mainly has three parts. In the first part, it investigates the direct relationship between language and temporal thinking as to whether users of different languages think about time differently. The results also show that, apart from linguistic influences, cultural and bodily experience can affect people’s conceptualisation of time. In the second part, it studies the relationship between temporal thought and various economic behaviour (e.g., pension planning, retirement savings, labour market performance), a healthy lifestyle (e.g., diet, smoking, disease) and overall wellbeing (financial satisfaction, happiness, life expectancy, financial wealth, etc.). Thirdly, it shows how language itself can be viewed as a form of capital that has a direct causal effect on economic and financial outcomes.