Abstract
The notion of whether people focus on the past, present or future, and how it shapes their behavior is known as Time Perspective. Fundamental to the work of two of its earliest proponents, Zimbardo and Boyd (2008), was the concept of balanced time perspective and its relationship to wellness. A person with balanced time perspective can be expected to have a flexible temporal focus of mostly positive orientations (past-positive, present-hedonistic, and future) and much less negative orientations (past-negative and present-fatalistic). This study measured deviation from balanced time perspective (DBTP: Zhang et al., 2013) in a sample of 243 mature adults aged 45 to 91 years and explored relationships to Retirement Planning, Depression, Anxiety, Stress, Positive Mood, and Negative Mood. Results indicate that DBTP accounts for unexplained variance in the outcome measures even after controlling for demographic variables. DBTP was negatively related to Retirement Planning and Positive Mood and positively related to Depression, Anxiety, Stress, and Negative Mood. Theoretical and practical implications regarding balanced time perspective are discussed.
Highlights
Lewin (1951) originally proposed that an individual’s behavior, mood, and morale depends on their psychological view of the past and future “existing at a given time” (p. 75)
Extending on Earl et al.’s research, the present study investigated whether variances in retirement planning behavior can be explained by Deviation from Balanced Time Perspective (DBTP)
As reported by Zhang et al (2013), DBTP was the best predictor of subjective well-being
Summary
Lewin (1951) originally proposed that an individual’s behavior, mood, and morale depends on their psychological view of the past and future “existing at a given time” (p. 75). Lewin (1951) originally proposed that an individual’s behavior, mood, and morale depends on their psychological view of the past and future “existing at a given time” By extension, when a particular temporal bias dominates at the expense of other time perspectives, they may become dysfunctional (Boniwell and Zimbardo, 2004) due to an overemphasis on the past, present, or future. The theoretical construct of time perspective can be viewed as a single facet of one’s individuality, given its widely acknowledged influence on behavior (Gutpa et al, 2012). An important point of difference between TPs and personality, as Zimbardo and Boyd (2008) asserted, is that TPs are not inflexible, and most people can change their temporal orientation if they are motivated to do so and are shown how
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
