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Putting Time in Perspective: A Valid, Reliable Individual-Differences Metric

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Time Perspective Theory; Review, Research and Application

Abstract

Time perspective (TP), a fundamental dimension in the construction of psychological time, emerges from cognitive processes partitioning human experience into past, present, and future temporal frames. The authors’ research program proposes that TP is a pervasive and powerful yet largely unrecognized influence on much human behavior. Although TP variations are learned and modified by a variety of personal, social, and institutional influences, TP also functions as an individual-differences variable. Reported is a new measure assessing personal variations in TP profiles and specific TP biases. The five factors of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory were established through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and demonstrate acceptable internal and test–retest reliability. Convergent, divergent, discriminant, and predictive validity are shown by correlational and experimental research supplemented by case studies.

For us convinced physicists, the distinction between past, present, and future is an illusion, although a persistent one.

—Albert Einstein

Originally published in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77 (6), 1271–1288.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    At this point, we must acknowledge our theoretical and personal bias toward evaluating decisions from a future orientation. It is only from the perspective of future orientation that the decision to smoke can be seen to have a negative consequence: the future development of lung cancer. If judged solely through the lens of present orientation, smoking is just a pleasurable activity without articulated future consequences. In the context of present orientation, smoking may actually be the “right” decision, because it may lead to pleasure, however short lived.

  2. 2.

    Both items loaded significantly on the Past-Negative and Past-Positive factors. They were retained on the Past-Positive scale on the basis of theoretical considerations, previous factor analyses of the scale, and a desire to increase the internal reliability of the scale.

  3. 3.

    Although there are no clear criteria for interpreting this ratio, several researchers have proposed standards. Wheaton et al. (1977) suggested that a ratio of approximately 5 is acceptable when the sample size approaches 1,000 and that a ratio of 10 can be considered a good fit, and Carmines and McIver (1981) suggested that a ratio in the range of 2–3 is adequate.

  4. 4.

    This was after allowing six pairs of factors to covary and freeing two off-diagonal elements of the theta–delta matrix. The items freed were 2 and 23, along with 31 and 42.

  5. 5.

    Although specific predictions were made only for two of the Big Five Questionnaire factors, correlations with all five factors are presented in Table 4. TP correlations with the three factors for which predictions were not made suggest that TP, as measured by the ZTPI, is not strongly related to these factors. The strongest correlation between a ZTPI factor and one of these three factors for which no predictions were made was .30.

  6. 6.

    Self-esteem data are from Samples 4 and 5 (see Table 1).

  7. 7.

    The sample size was smaller because participants who reported that they were “not shy” in preceding questions did not respond to the “how shy” question.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology Department, Stanford University, Standard, CA, 94305-2130, USA

    Philip G. Zimbardo & John N. Boyd

Authors
  1. Philip G. Zimbardo
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  2. John N. Boyd
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Philip G. Zimbardo .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland

    Maciej Stolarski

  2. Groupe de Recherche en Psychologie Sociale, Institut de Psychologie, University of Lyon, Lyon-Bron, France

    Nicolas Fieulaine

  3. GGZ Veenendaal, Veenendaal, The Netherlands

    Wessel van Beek

Annexes A

Annexes A

Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory Items

  1.  1.

    I believe that getting together with one’s friends to party is one of life’s important pleasures.

  2.  2.

    Familiar childhood sights, sounds, and smells often bring back a flood of wonderful memories.

  3.  3.

    Fate determines much in my life.

  4.  4.

    I often think of what I should have done differently in my life.

  5.  5.

    My decisions are mostly influenced by people and things around me.

  6.  6.

    I believe that a person’s day should be planned ahead each morning.

  7.  7.

    It gives me pleasure to think about my past.

  8.  8.

    I do things impulsively.

  9.  9.

    If things don’t get done on time, I don’t worry about it.

  10. 10.

    When I want to achieve something, I set goals and consider specific means for reaching those goals.

  11. 11.

    On balance, there is much more good to recall than bad in my past.

  12. 12.

    When listening to my favorite music, I often lose all track of time.

  13. 13.

    Meeting tomorrow’s deadlines and doing other necessary work comes before tonight’s play.

  14. 14.

    Since whatever will be will be, it doesn’t really matter what I do.

  15. 15.

    I enjoy stories about how things used to be in the “good old times.”

  16. 16.

    Painful past experiences keep being replayed in my mind.

  17. 17.

    I try to live my life as fully as possible, one day at a time.

  18. 18.

    It upsets me to be late for appointments.

  19. 19.

    Ideally, I would live each day as if it were my last.

  20. 20.

    Happy memories of good times spring readily to mind.

  21. 21.

    I meet my obligations to friends and authorities on time.

  22. 22.

    I’ve taken my share of abuse and rejection in the past.

  23. 23.

    I make decisions on the spur of the moment.

  24. 24.

    I take each day as it is rather than try to plan it out.

  25. 25.

    The past has too many unpleasant memories that I prefer not to think about.

  26. 26.

    It is important to put excitement in my life.

  27. 27.

    I’ve made mistakes in the past that I wish I could undo.

  28. 28.

    I feel that it’s more important to enjoy what you’re doing than to get work done on time.

  29. 29.

    I get nostalgic about my childhood.

  30. 30.

    Before making a decision, I weigh the costs against the benefits.

  31. 31.

    Taking risks keeps my life from becoming boring.

  32. 32.

    It is more important for me to enjoy life’s journey than to focus only on the destination.

  33. 33.

    Things rarely work out as I expected.

  34. 34.

    It’s hard for me to forget unpleasant images of my youth.

  35. 35.

    It takes joy out of the process and flow of my activities, if I have to think about goals, outcomes, and products.

  36. 36.

    Even when I am enjoying the present, I am drawn back to comparisons with similar past experiences.

  37. 37.

    You can’t really plan for the future because things change so much.

  38. 38.

    My life path is controlled by forces I cannot influence.

  39. 39.

    It doesn’t make sense to worry about the future, since there is nothing that I can do about it anyway.

  40. 40.

    I complete projects on time by making steady progress.

  41. 41.

    I find myself tuning out when family members talk about the way things used to be.

  42. 42.

    I take risks to put excitement in my life.

  43. 43.

    I make lists of things to do.

  44. 44.

    I often follow my heart more than my head.

  45. 45.

    I am able to resist temptations when I know that there is work to be done.

  46. 46.

    I find myself getting swept up in the excitement of the moment.

  47. 47.

    Life today is too complicated; I would prefer the simpler life of the past.

  48. 48.

    I prefer friends who are spontaneous rather than predictable.

  49. 49.

    I like family rituals and traditions that are regularly repeated.

  50. 50.

    I think about the bad things that have happened to me in the past.

  51. 51.

    I keep working at difficult, uninteresting tasks if they will help me get ahead.

  52. 52.

    Spending what I earn on pleasures today is better than saving for tomorrow’s security.

  53. 53.

    Often luck pays off better than hard work.

  54. 54.

    I think about the good things that I have missed out on in my life.

  55. 55.

    I like my close relationships to be passionate.

  56. 56.

    There will always be time to catch up on my work.

Note: Respondents are asked to read each item and, as honestly as they can, answer the following question: “How characteristic or true is this of you?” (1 = very uncharacteristic, 2 = uncharacteristic, 3 = neutral, 4 = characteristic, 5 = very characteristic).

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Zimbardo, P.G., Boyd, J.N. (2015). Putting Time in Perspective: A Valid, Reliable Individual-Differences Metric. In: Stolarski, M., Fieulaine, N., van Beek, W. (eds) Time Perspective Theory; Review, Research and Application. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07368-2_2

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