Ruminating on the past may be bad for you, or is it? Implications of past negative time perspective on job-related stress

Abstract

Past negative time perspective (PNTP), characterized by rumination on painful past experiences, is generally considered harmful to a person’s well-being. However, there is reason to suspect that a PNTP may not make matters worse if a high PNTP is consistent with culture, as in the case of India. Drawing on the person–culture matching hypothesis, we test the moderating effects of PNTP on the relationship between role stressors and both psychological strain and organizational outcomes among Indian employees in India ( n = 253). Two smaller comparison groups of Asian Indians and US-born Americans in the USA were also evaluated to anchor the understanding of the Indians’ score on PNTP. This comparison is particularly important given that pressures of globalization on India’s culture have created a sustained sense of uncertainty for Indians. Results indicate that the mean score on PNTP is greater for Indians than for US-born Americans ( n = 56) and US-Indians ( n = 69). Furthermore, having a low PNTP intensified the adverse outcomes due to stressors, whereas a high PNTP had no further impact. Findings suggest that although having an overall PNTP is not ideal, not reflecting on past negative events to cope with current stressors could also be problematic within the Indian context where PNTP is normative. Thus, in a PNTP country, a person’s high PNTP has no more adverse effect as stressors increase.