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DOI :10.26650/SP2018-0011   IUP :10.26650/SP2018-0011    Full Text (PDF)

A New Look at the Measurement and Concept of Future Time Perspective

Burak Doğruyol, Ada Olgaç

A new look at the measurement and concept of future time perspective shows that it has the potential to influence human emotion and cognition, well-being, and psychopathological symptoms. Therefore, especially following the Zimbardo Time Perspective approach and using its relevant measure, the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI), time perspective has attracted the attention of researchers. Future time perspective, with its ambiguous and uncertain nature, has attracted special attention among the past, present, and future perspectives. However, measurement and conceptualization of future time perspective is complex, and research in this field produced mixed and contradictory results. Therefore, the aim of the current study is to investigate the relationship between different future time perspective measures in order to provide a theoretical explanation about mixed findings and further the validity of relevant measures. In the current study, the relationship between different future time perspective measures was investigated using 311 participants. In order to measure future time perspective, the Future subscale of the ZTPI, the Future subscale of the Balanced Time perspective Scale (BTPS), and the Attitudes Towards Future Scale (ATFS) were administered. The results of correlation and second-order factor analyses revealed that the ZTPI-Future subscale is compatible with planned future subscale of ATFS. Thus, the ZTPI-Future subscale seems to measure the cognitive component of the future time perspective. The results indicated that future time perspective is a multi-dimensional construct that includes qualitatively distinct components.
Keywords: Future time perspective, Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory, scale validation, second-order factor analysis, construct validity
DOI :10.26650/SP2018-0011   IUP :10.26650/SP2018-0011    Full Text (PDF)

Gelecek Zaman Perspektifi Ölçüm ve Kavramsallaştırmalarına Yeni Bir Bakış

Burak Doğruyol, Ada Olgaç

Zaman perspektifi bireylerin duygu ve düşüncelerini, mutluluk düzeylerini ve psikopatolojik semptomlarını etkileme gücüne sahiptir. Bu yüzden, özellikle Zimbardo Zaman Perspektifi yaklaşımı ve ölçümünün de etkisiyle zaman perspektifi son dönemde araştırmacıların ilgisini çekmektedir. Gelecek zaman perspektifi ise belirsizlik içeren doğası sebebi ile ayrıca ilgi odağı olmaktadır. Ancak, ilgili yazında zaman perspektifinin ölçümü ve kavramsallaştırılması ile ilgili farklı yaklaşımlar ve çelişkili bulgular bulunmaktadır. Bu farklılıkların ve çelişkilerin olası sebeplerinden birisi kullanılan ölçüm araçlarının, zaman perspektifini özellikle de gelecek boyutunu farklı şekillerde ele almasıdır. Bu yüzden, gelecek zaman perspektifini ölçen araçların birbirleri ile ilişkisi, bir başka deyişle, yapı geçerliklerinin bir arada ele alınması yazına ışık tutması açısından önemlidir. Buradan hareketle, gelecek boyutu ölçümünde kullanılan araçların ilişkileri incelenerek ilgili yazında yer alan çelişkili bulguların altında yatan sebeplere ışık tutulması amaçlanmıştır. Bu çalışmada, gelecek zaman perspektifinin ölçümünde kullanılan farklı ölçme araçlarının birbirleri ile ilişkisi 311 katılımcı üzerinde incelenmiştir. Gelecek perspektifini ölçmek için Zimbardo Zaman Perspektifi Ölçeği (ZZPÖ) gelecek boyutu, Dengeli Zaman Perspektifi Ölçeği’nin (DZPÖ) gelecek boyutu ve Geleceğe İlişkin Tutumlar Ölçeği (GİTÖ) kullanılmıştır. Pearson Momentler Çarpımı korelasyon analizleri ve ikinci dereceden faktör analizi sonuçları, yaygın olarak kullanılan ZZPÖ’nün gelecek boyutunun GİTÖ-planlı gelecek boyutu ile ilişkili olduğunu, dolayısıyla gelecek ile ilgili bilişsel bileşenleri ölçtüğünü göstermiştir. Ayrıca, analizler GİTÖ’nün olumlu ve korkulu gelecek boyutları ile DZPÖ-gelecek boyutlarının ilişkili olduğunu göstermektedir. Bu boyutlar ise gelecek perspektifinin duygusal bileşenlerine odaklanmaktadır. Bulgular, gelecek perspektifinin çok boyutlu ve farklı bileşenleri olan bir yapısı olduğuna işaret etmektedir.
Keywords: Gelecek zaman perspektifi, Zimbardo zaman perspektifi ölçümü, ölçek geçerliği, ikinci dereceden faktör analizi, yapı geçerliği

EXTENDED ABSTRACT


Our perception of time has an important influence on our daily practices and understanding of the outer world. Thus, time as a concept has attracted the attention of philosophers, thinkers, and psychologists. Once time was conceptualized as a subjective experience shaped by human perception and cognition, psychologists started to investigate time as an integral part of human experience.

Psychologists heavily focused on the term “time perspective” which is formulated as individual differences in the focus on past, present, or future (Zimbardo & Boyd, 1999). Numerous studies from different fields established relations between time perspective and various psychological outcome variables (e.g., Papastamatelou, Unger, Giotakos, & Athanasiodu, 2015; Przepiorka & Blachnio, 2016). Based on the historical perspective emphasizing the importance of future time perspective over past and present (Heidegger, 1992), research on this field heavily devoted to future time perspective. As future perspective by nature includes uncertainty and ambiguity, its effects on us is much more complex and controversial (Holman & Silver, 2005).

Research on time perspective accelerated as Zimbardo introduced the time perspective approach and developed the Time Perspective Inventory (TPI; Zimbardo & Boyd, 1999). This perspective also uses three different time perspectives: the past, present, and future.  

Additionally from the scale measuring those three dimensions, there are also five subscales: positive and negative past, positive and negative present, and future.

Findings on the effects of future time perspective, in general, yielded that holding a predominantly future time perspective is significantly related to various positive outcomes (e.g., Guarino, De Pascalis, & Di Chiacchio, 1999; Luyckx, Lens, Smits, & Goossens, 2010). In addition to the findings between future time perspective and positive psychological outcomes, some other research revealed weak or nonsignificant relationships (e.g., Mahon & Yarcheski, 1994). Moreover, other research revealed that focusing on the future time perspective is associated with negative outcomes. For instance, future time perspective was predictive of future worries that leads to less enjoyment in the present (Lens & Tsuzuki, 2007). Furthermore, future time perspective was also related with higher stress levels (Otrar, Eksi, Dilmac, & Sikin, 2002) and higher levels of depressive symptoms in war survivors (Basoğlu et al., 2005).

Mixed findings on the effects of future time perspective might arise from measurement problem. Several tools have been developed to measure future time perspective, such as the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (Zimbardo & Boyd, 1999), the Balanced Time Perspective Scale (BTPS; Webster, 2011), and the Attitudes Towards Future Scale (ATFS; Güler, 2004). In addition to the measurement problem, mixed findings might be the result of different conceptualizations behind those measurement tools. For instance, the ZTPIFuture is a unidimensional construct that ignores the positive and negative components of focusing on the future. Thus, the aim of the study is to shed some light on the measurement issue of future time perspective. For this aim, three different future time perspective measures were used together for the first time. By doing so, we were able to compare the commonly used ZTPI-Future scale against a similar unidimensional measure of future time perspective (i.e., BTPS-Future) and a multidimensional measure (i.e., ATFS), which includes positive, planful, and fearful future perspective subscales. Besides the measurement problem, mixed results might arise from different conceptualizations of future time perspective as positive-negative and cognitive-emotional. Thus, we also aim to explore if different measures tap into the distinct components of multidimensional future time perspective.

Methods

For this aim, 311 participants with an age range between 18 and 74 (M = 31.43, SD = 15.20) participated in the study. Correlation between different future time perspective measures was calculated to assess the relationship between them. Then, a second-order factor analysis was conducted on the participants’ future time perspective scores to explore whether they can be clustered together. 

Results

Results of correlation analysis revealed that ZTPS-Future scale was weakly but significantly correlated with positive future subscale (r(309) = .13, p < .05) and BTPS-Future scale (r(309) = .18, p < .001), while it was moderately correlated with planful future subscale (r(309) = .47, p < .001). Second-order principal component analysis using Promax rotation provided two-factor solution based on the eigenvalues (eigenvalues = 2.408 and 1.761). Accordingly, the first factor consisted of a positive future, fearful future subscales, and BTPSFuture scale. Altogether, subscales loaded on the first factor tap emotional component of future time perspective. Besides, the second factor consisted of ZTPS-Future and planful future subscale which can be named as a cognitive component of future time perspective.

Discussion

Overall, the results of the current study indicated that future time perspective is a multidimensional construct. Some researchers have criticized for the ZTPS-Future scale since it ignores positive and negative future perspectives (Carelli, Wiberg, & Wiberg, 2011). Besides being double-barreled in terms of positivity and negativity, results of the current study indicated that future time perspective is perceived in cognitive and emotional terms which might have distinct effects on behavior. Accordingly, ZTPS-Future seems to tap the cognitive component of future time perspective similar to Webster’s (2011) critics on the issue. Furthermore, BTPS-Future scale seems to tap the emotional component of future time perspective. Thus, future studies should consider different dimensions of future time perspective.


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APA

Doğruyol, B., & Olgaç, A. (2018). A New Look at the Measurement and Concept of Future Time Perspective. Studies in Psychology, 38(2), 201-217. https://doi.org/10.26650/SP2018-0011


AMA

Doğruyol B, Olgaç A. A New Look at the Measurement and Concept of Future Time Perspective. Studies in Psychology. 2018;38(2):201-217. https://doi.org/10.26650/SP2018-0011


ABNT

Doğruyol, B.; Olgaç, A. A New Look at the Measurement and Concept of Future Time Perspective. Studies in Psychology, [Publisher Location], v. 38, n. 2, p. 201-217, 2018.


Chicago: Author-Date Style

Doğruyol, Burak, and Ada Olgaç. 2018. “A New Look at the Measurement and Concept of Future Time Perspective.” Studies in Psychology 38, no. 2: 201-217. https://doi.org/10.26650/SP2018-0011


Chicago: Humanities Style

Doğruyol, Burak, and Ada Olgaç. “A New Look at the Measurement and Concept of Future Time Perspective.” Studies in Psychology 38, no. 2 (Apr. 2025): 201-217. https://doi.org/10.26650/SP2018-0011


Harvard: Australian Style

Doğruyol, B & Olgaç, A 2018, 'A New Look at the Measurement and Concept of Future Time Perspective', Studies in Psychology, vol. 38, no. 2, pp. 201-217, viewed 27 Apr. 2025, https://doi.org/10.26650/SP2018-0011


Harvard: Author-Date Style

Doğruyol, B. and Olgaç, A. (2018) ‘A New Look at the Measurement and Concept of Future Time Perspective’, Studies in Psychology, 38(2), pp. 201-217. https://doi.org/10.26650/SP2018-0011 (27 Apr. 2025).


MLA

Doğruyol, Burak, and Ada Olgaç. “A New Look at the Measurement and Concept of Future Time Perspective.” Studies in Psychology, vol. 38, no. 2, 2018, pp. 201-217. [Database Container], https://doi.org/10.26650/SP2018-0011


Vancouver

Doğruyol B, Olgaç A. A New Look at the Measurement and Concept of Future Time Perspective. Studies in Psychology [Internet]. 27 Apr. 2025 [cited 27 Apr. 2025];38(2):201-217. Available from: https://doi.org/10.26650/SP2018-0011 doi: 10.26650/SP2018-0011


ISNAD

Doğruyol, Burak - Olgaç, Ada. “A New Look at the Measurement and Concept of Future Time Perspective”. Studies in Psychology 38/2 (Apr. 2025): 201-217. https://doi.org/10.26650/SP2018-0011



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Accepted06.11.2018

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