Time in creating human situation. On the regulatory function of time

Abstract

The article dwells on the role of time in regulating human behaviour. A twofold role (subjective and objective) of time was shown in the context of activity theory by Tomaszewski. The twofold role of time is a reflection of a character of a task-oriented situation. Time, being a fundamental objective condition of action, has both autotelic and instrumental values. Human behaviour in a given situation depends on an ability to use the time as a creator of actions as well as a destructive factor, leading to difficult situations. When analyzing behaviour, both instrumental and autotelic characters of time should be taken into account.