Our research in October showed that ‘falling back’ had a negative impact on women, especially mothers. Do we need to shift the way we think about time?
Twice a year we change the clocks. For many it is not clear why and how this change affects us. So last October, with the help of the Guardian, a group of scientists at Liverpool John Moores University and the University of Oxford conducted a nationwide survey to understand the impact on people’s daily lives.
More than 12,000 people answered questions about their wellbeing, satisfaction with life and stress levels, completing the survey in the week before the clocks went back and again in the days immediately after. When we compared the responses, we found that women’s mental health and wellbeing suffered in the immediate aftermath of the clocks going back, while men experienced greater wellbeing and greater satisfaction with life. So what does this tell us about the way we experience time?
Ruth Ogden is professor of the psychology of time at Liverpool John Moores University. Her study of the effects of clocks changing was undertaken with Prof Patricia Kingori, a sociologist at the University of Oxford’s Ethox Centre
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