Hornsey, Matthew J.Tyson, CourtneyFerris, Laura J.Crimston, Charlie R.Faulkner, CallumBarlow, Fiona Kate2026-02-172026-02-171743-9760WOS:001467706100001ORCID:/0000-0002-4529-786X/work/205795185https://hdl.handle.net/1885/733805621If the history of the universe was distilled into a single year (the cosmic calendar) then our lives represent a fraction of a second. Two experiments (collective N = 360) examined the wellbeing consequences of being reminded of this fact. Both studies revealed that a time perspective induction increased forgiveness of others and self-forgiveness. Study 1 also demonstrated that a time perspective induction increased life satisfaction and coping, and decreased anxiety. Positive effects of a time induction were mostly mediated through feeling small in the context of vastness; much less so by awe or by self-perspective. Concerns that a time perspective induction would damage wellbeing through feelings of death anxiety and insignificance were unfounded. Findings are interpreted in light of literature on the small self, ego-dissolution, and self-transcendence.12enSmall selfAweSelf-transcendenceWellbeingThe cosmic calendar: being reminded of the vastness of time can improve wellbeing202510.1080/17439760.2025.2481039105000534385