Spanish Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory Construction and Validity among Higher Education Students

Abstract

Introduction. The study of Time Orientation (TO) has been focused on how to measure this construct and its effects on human behavior. Defined as a fundamental psychological variable, TO is multidimensional, sensible to cultural differences and age. Although its relation to learning, it deserves further study in the different Higher Education (HE) modalities (onsite, blended and online).Method. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) is used in a sample of 250 HE learners enrolled in online, blended and onsite institutions, to compare the results of the ZTPI in the particular population of HE students in relation with the previous studies in English and those using the ZTPI Spanish release among a general population sample. Also, Confirmatory Factorial Analysis (CFA) is conducted among a different sample (n=316) in order to discuss the external validity of the instrument.Results. The factorial structure study of the ZTPI in Spanish among HE students revealed 5 factors, with a similar item classification of the previous study of the Spanish release and an acceptable internal reliability for each factor. Furthermore, the study of TO in relation to age for students in three different university modalities showed significant differences for past and future orientations and present hedonism when compared with previous research, culturan aspects are discussed. In general, the ZTPI in Spanish is a reliable instrument for measuring the students’ TO, and this psychological trait is significantly related to age and university modality.Discussion. Our results could give a first, indicative direction for helping institutions adapting their offer of online, onsite and blended courses to the different students’ profiles, based on their TO. Moreover, differences shown among contexts could also guide prospective HE students to choose the best fitted HE modality according to their TO.