title: Characterizing the time-perspective of nations with search engine query data.
abstract: Vast quantities of data on human behavior are being created by our everyday internet usage. Building upon a recent study by Preis, Moat, Stanley, and Bishop (2012), we used search engine query data to construct measures of the time-perspective of nations, and tested these measures against per-capita gross domestic product (GDP). The results indicate that nations with higher per-capita GDP are more focused on the future and less on the past, and that when these nations do focus on the past, it is more likely to be the distant past. These results demonstrate the viability of using nation-level data to build psychological constructs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Takao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Noguchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Stewart
authors.affiliation: Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
authors.forename: Christopher Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Olivola
authors.affiliation: Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Helen Susannah
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Moat
authors.affiliation: Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Preis
mesh_terms: D005544:Forecasting; D059066:Gross Domestic Product; D006801:Humans; D038622:Internationality; D020407:Internet; D057386:Search Engine; D013997:Time Factors
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