Ethnic differences in time perception: a comparison of Anglo and Mexican Americans.

Social scientists have presented an image of the Mexican American as locked into the present, incapable, or unwilling to project plans and events into the future. This is seen as responsible in part for the lack of social mobility and assimilation exhibited by Mexican Americans. However, there is little empirical support for the contention that Mexican Americans have a restricted sense of future events. The present study compared the temporal perspectives of 31 Mexican American and 41 Anglo American college students. No marked differences were observed.