Aberrant time experience in schizotypy: A dimensional perspective

Atypical experiences of time in schizophrenia have long been clinically and empirically documented. The nature of and ways in which time experience anomalies emerge in nonpsychotic schizotypic individuals, however, are largely unknown. The current study investigates associations between well-established schizotypy indicators and a self-report measure of time experience, the Subjective Time Questionnaire, with a specific focus on the perceived speed of passing time. We also examine the differential relations between the subscales of the Subjective Time Questionnaire and schizotypal symptom domains (positive, negative, and disorganized). The present study included participants from a nonclinical university sample (N = 682) who completed a battery of time perception and schizotypy measures. Data collection occurred between September 22, 2023, and December 4, 2023. The results revealed associations between indicators of schizotypy, or schizophrenia liability, and aberrant time perception experiences, with particular correlational patterns depending on dimensions of schizotypic symptomology. Specifically, positive and disorganized schizotypal dimensions were more often associated with extreme reports of time experienced as sped up and slowed down, while negative symptomatology was associated with perception of time as expansive and slowed. The findings of the current study extend and bolster the literature on time perception abnormalities in the schizophrenia spectrum of psychopathology and highlight the importance of research within the subclinical schizotypic realm. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).