A content analytic method to study subjective time experience in lay narratives

First the logic of how time psychology arrived in text-based research is outlined, then dilemmas and controversies of trait psychology in the study of subjective time experience are treated. Two content analytical methods are described for the identification of hidden time-related patterns in lay reports. The first shows word categories identified in word frequency analyses, the second illustrates narrative chronological patterns found in spontaneous life story recalls. The study was based on in-depth autobiographical interviews with twenty patients suffering in chronic illness.