Validation of the Japanese Version of the Modified Balanced Time Perspective Scale: Factor Structure,Reliability, and Validity Results1

A balanced time perspective (BTP) is defined as a frequent and equal tendency to think positively about both one's past and future. A BTP is related to greater psychological well-being, such as life satisfaction and wisdom, and these BTP associations may vary cross-culturally, although few studies of BTP in non-Western countries exist. In order to advance cross-cultural comparisons of BTP, an important methodological step is to validate BTP measures in different cultures. This study aimed to develop and validate a Japanese version of the modified Balanced Time Perspective Scale (mBTPS). Japanese participants (N = 1,020, aged 18–79 years) completed the mBTPS-J, along with Japanese versions of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI-J) and measures of well-being (life satisfaction and wisdom scales). Factor analysis of the mBTPS-J resulted in a 27-item mBTPS-J consisting of Past, Present, and Future subscales. Correlations between the relevant mBTPS-J and ZTPI-J subscales, and with the well-being measures, supported both convergent and predictive validity, respectively. The demonstrated psychometric strengths of the mBTPS-J will allow for specific testing of important cross-cultural questions.     

Using Temporal Profiles and a Deviation from Balanced Approach to Understand Alcohol and Mental Health Problems

Abstract

The present study examined how multiple operationalizations of Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI) scores (raw scores; temporal profiles, based on cluster analysis; and the Deviation from a Balanced Time Perspective, or ‘transformed’ methodology) were related to both alcohol-related problems and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Participants were a large (N?=?816) university sample in the United Kingdom. A total of four time perspective profiles were observed: Futures, Presents, Past Negative-Futures, and Fatalists. Having a Present profile was associated with the worst alcohol-related outcomes. With regard to psychopathology, individuals with a Future profile reported the least anxious and depressive symptoms, and individuals with a Fatalistic profile reported the highest levels of depression. The effect of transformed scores was less robust, though greater deviation from a balanced perspective was associated with somewhat higher symptoms of anxiety and depression. Further, models using raw ZTPI dimension scores explained a greater amount of variance than models using the transformed scores. This study suggests that operationalizing the ZTPI in different ways produces results, which differ both in magnitude and statistical significance. We recommend that future studies using the ZTPI employ these various operationalizations in order that consensus on the optimal approach can be reached.     

Time orientation and health-related behaviour: Measurement in general population samples

Research on health behaviour and time orientation has been hindered by a lack of consensus about appropriate measurement. Study 1 assessed the reliability of the Consideration of Future Consequences Scale (CFC) and the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI) in a general population sample (n?=?300). Although more reliable, the CFC was less readable. Study 2 assessed the validity of a shortened ZTPI, measuring future and present orientation, and the full CFC. The measures had good discrimination to distinguish interpersonal differences. Construct validity of present, but not future, orientation as measured by the ZTPI, was evidenced by its mediation of the association between socioeconomic status and expectations of participating in diabetes screening. The CFC mediated this relationship more weakly. Further investigation of present orientation in understanding health-related behaviour is warranted.     

Present and future temporal profiles and their relationship to health intentions and behaviors: A test on a Norwegian general population sample

We investigated the temporal profiles of a Norwegian general population sample and their relation to health behaviors and intentions. The profiles were based on variables from the present and future dimensions of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI), the Consideration of Future Consequences Scale (CFCS), and the combination of both scales. The analysis revealed that there were only two stable clusters that corresponded to the present and the future profiles. Generally, CFCS‐based present and future profiles were more effective at predicting health behaviors and intentions than ZTPI‐based profiles. Profiles based on the CFCS variables were more predictive of eating behaviors. However, the profiles based on the combination of both CFCS and ZTPI were more predictive of smoking, exercising, and health intentions than the profiles based solely on the CFCS. The variation in walking was explained only by the profiles based on a combination of CFCS and ZTPI.     

Coping Strategies in Late Adolescence: Relationships to Parental Attachment and Time Perspective

The authors investigated adolescents' use of coping strategies in relation to attachment to parents and time perspective. Adolescents in Grade 3 upper secondary school (M age = 18.3 years, SD = 0.6 years; n = 160) completed the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment, the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory, and the Brief COPE. Correlational analyses showed that attachment to parents was associated with a more favorable view of the past (higher past positive and lower past negative), a less fatalistic view of the present, and a more favorable view of the future (higher future positive and lower future negative). Parental attachment accounted for significant variance in composite coping scores (adaptive and maladaptive) when entered before, but not after, time perspective subscales in hierarchical regression analyses. However, time perspective (mainly present hedonistic and positive or negative future) predicted adaptive or maladaptive coping over and beyond attachment. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that most of the relationship between adolescents' attachment to parents and coping is mediated by individual differences in time perspective. By contrast, factors other than attachment to parents (e.g., temperament) must be considered to fully account for the relationship between time perspective and coping.     

Individual differences in time perspective predict autonoetic experience

Tulving (1985) posited that the capacity to remember is one facet of a more general capacity—autonoetic (self-knowing) consciousness. Autonoetic consciousness was proposed to underlie the ability for “mental time travel” both into the past (remembering) and into the future to envision potential future episodes (episodic future thinking). The current study examines whether individual differences can predict autonoetic experience. Specifically, the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI, Zimbardo & Boyd, 1999) was administered to 133 undergraduate students, who also rated phenomenological experiences accompanying autobiographical remembering and episodic future thinking. Scores on two of the five subscales of the ZTPI (Future and Present-Hedonistic) predicted the degree to which people reported feelings of mentally traveling backward (or forward) in time and the degree to which they reported re- or pre-experiencing the event, but not ten other rated properties less related to autonoetic consciousness.     

Time perspective, depression, and substance misuse among the homeless

Using the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI; P. G. Zimbardo & J. N. Boyd, 1999), the authors found that homeless people, in comparison with a control group, had a significantly more negative outlook concerning their past and present as evinced by high Past-Negative and Present-Fatalistic scores and low Past-Positive scores on the ZTPI. However, the homeless individuals were almost indistinguishable from control participants on measures of Present-Hedonism and Future thinking. The homeless individuals had significantly higher levels of depression, with 31 out of 50 (62%) reaching criteria for probable depression. However, this finding was unrelated to their atypical time perspective. There was no significant relation between substance misuse and time perspective. Despite their current difficulties, including depression and drug abuse, the homeless individuals maintained a propensity toward future thinking characterized by striving to achieve their goals.     

Time Perspective Therapy: A New Time-Based Metaphor Therapy for PTSD

Time perspective therapy (TPT) is a new time-based therapy that focuses on clients' perceptions of their past, present, and future. Based on Zimbardo's temporal theory and the utilization of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory, the authors have developed this new narrative therapy approach for the purpose of treating clients diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder. The goal of TPT is to identify clients' six time perspective factors and then work with and balance these perspectives to promote a more positive future orientation, replace their traumatic past negativity, and thereby create a more responsive and healthier individual.     

Time perspective as a predictor of problematic Internet use: A study of Facebook users

Time perspective (TP) has been related to different problematic human behaviors. The work presented in this paper assesses the role of time perspective in predicting problematic Internet use (PIU) by studying a sample (n = 149) of Facebook users. Participants (79 male, 70 female, mean age = 32.40, SD = 11.80) completed electronic versions of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI) to assess their TP, and the Generalized Problematic Internet Use Scale 2 (GPIUS2) to assess their PIU. Results show that Past Negative and Present Fatalistic temporal frames are predictors of problematic Internet use, suggesting that time perspective is an individual difference construct that should be taken into consideration in the context of PIU.     

Is Time Perspective a Predictor of Anxiety and Perceived Stress? Some Preliminary Results from Greece

In the current studies, we explore the relationship between anxiety / perceived stress and time perspectives. Study 1 tested the relationship between the dimensions of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI) and anxiety in a male sample. Study 2 examined the relationship between time perspectives and perceived stress in a sample of students. Both studies considered the Deviation of the Balanced Time Perspective (DBTP). In Study 1 psychiatrists of the Mental Health Centre of the Armed Forces in Athens diagnosed generalised anxiety in a number of male participants of the overall sample (n?=?204). All participants completed a validated Greek translation of the ZTPI. In Study 2 a sample of students (n?=?71) of Panteion University completed the Greek translations of the ZTPI and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-14 items). In Study 1 a negative correlation between Future orientation and anxiety was found. The DBTP was higher in persons with anxiety. In Study 2 the Past Negative and Present Fatalistic orientations correlated with high-perceived stress as assumed. Furthermore, high-perceived stress was associated with a higher DBTP. The ZTPI is particularly important for the explanation of perceived stress. DBTP, Past Negative and Present Fatalistic perspectives are important factors of influence. The measurement of anxiety should be re-examined.     

时间洞察力特质对食品选择偏好的影响:解释水平对内隐偏好的作用

探索两类时间洞察力特质个体外显与内隐食物选择偏好。实验1用《津巴多时间洞察力问卷》选出"现在享乐"和"未来定向"两类个体,考察其外显食物选择偏好,结果发现,与"未来定向"组相比,"现在享乐"个体选择更多垃圾食品。实验2中,两类个体分别接受不同的解释水平操作,之后完成单靶内隐联想测验,以考察其对垃圾食品的内隐态度,并检验解释水平的调节作用。结果发现,与未来定向组相比,现在享乐组对"垃圾食品"存在内隐偏好。此外,对现在享乐者,解释水平改变会对食物选择偏好有显著影响;而对未来定向者,其影响不显著。这表明与未来时间定向者比,现在享乐者在外显、内隐层面对"垃圾食品"有选择偏好,并且解释水平会通过改变心理距离对其内隐选择偏好产生影响。     

Anxiety after remembering stressful academic versus brush with death events: The moderating roles of future time perspective and personal intimacy

This study examines: (i) whether recalling stressful autobiographical events results in anxiety, (ii) the relation of memory qualities to anxiety, and (iii) the relation of future time perspective and personal intimacy to experiencing anxiety. Participants (N = 120) completed Future Time Perspective, Personal Intimacy and State Anxiety scales. They were randomly assigned to recall a brush with death, a stressful academic deadline, or a no-stress control. Memory qualities (vividness and significance) were assessed. As expected, recalling stressful events resulted in anxiety with more personally significant events related to higher anxiety. Having a more open-ended future time perspective related to lower anxiety after recalling a stressful academic deadline, whereas greater personal intimacy predicted lower anxiety after recalling a brush with death. Findings are discussed in terms of factors that may serve to moderate the link between stressful memories and the experience of anxiety.     

Discussing normative features of Future Time Perspective construct: Renewing with the Lewinian approach from a sociocognitive perspective

Since the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI), an important body of research emerges on the Time Perspective (TP) construct and more specifically on the Future Time Perspective (FTP) dimension. However, a gap is growing between the psychosocial Lewinian approach to TP and the dispositional way it is operationalized in many studies nowadays. One way of underlining the psychosocial roots of TP and to show the problematic use of FTP in a personalistic manner is to highlight normative aspects of FTP. From a sociocognitive perspective, present research aims to examine the social valorization of FTP and to determine the type of social value associated with it in a French context. Results reveal the social valorization of FTP-ZTPI dimension and permit to discuss the normativity of this construct. We suggest that FTP might be normative because it refers to certain social expectations and ideologies in the context of contemporary Western societies.     

Time Perspectives Predict Mood States and Satisfaction with Life over and above Personality

The present study aimed to test the incremental validity of Time Perspective (TP) scales in predicting satisfaction with life and mood, over and above the Big Five personality traits. It also investigated whether the new TP construct of Future Negative perspective contributed to prediction of these outcomes. Participants (N = 265) completed four measures: Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), UWIST Mood Adjective Checklist (UMACL), a modified Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI), and NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). Results confirmed the incremental validity of TP, although Big Five dimensions were independently predictive of life satisfaction and certain mood scales. Past Negative TP was the strongest single predictor of life satisfaction. However, Future Negative TP was be the strongest mood predictor from the TP universe, after controlling for the Big Five and remaining TP dimensions. Findings suggest that TP is an important aspect of personality for understanding individual differences in well-being.     

Factorial structure and reliability of Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory

Time orientation is a fundamental psychological variable, what it flows all aspects of human behaviour. Past, present, and future orientation decomposed of allocated into different temporal frames the continual flow of behaviour, providing meaning and coherence. It has been proposed the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI) so multidimensional measure of time orientation, which include positive and negative evaluation of past and present, as well as future evaluation. The factorial structure and reliability of ZTPI was analysed on Spanish adult population. The participants were 756 adults with age range 19-67 years old ( M = 40.1, SD = 15.45). The principal components analyses showed five factors, very similar to obtain on nort-american undergraduate samples, even thought a little difference in composition of the present-fatalist factor. The reliability of each factor was suitable. Age and gender differences analysis showed that older groups were more future oriented and less present hedonist, female were high orientation to past negative, past positive and present fatalist, while young females were more future oriented than older females.     

成长型思维与坚毅的关系:未来时间洞察力和成就动机的链式中介作用

以山东地区两所高校的548名大学生为研究样本,采用问卷调查法收集数据,考察未来时间洞察力和成就动机在大学生成长型思维与坚毅之间的链式中介效应。结果显示：（1）成长型思维、未来时间洞察力、成就动机与坚毅之间均存在显著正相关;（2）成长型思维既能通过未来时间洞察力和成就动机分别间接预测大学生的坚毅品质,又能通过未来时间洞察力→成就动机的链式中介作用间接预测大学生的坚毅品质。     

大学生过去时间洞察力的心理结构

本研究旨在探索大学生过去时间洞察力的心理结构并编制适合大学生使用的量表。在理论构想的基础上,根据开放式问卷调查结果和前人相关研究,初步确定了大学生过去时间洞察力的结构和量表题项。探索性因素分析和验证性因素分析表明,大学生过去时间洞察力的心理结构由3个维度、12个因素构成。大学生过去时间洞察力量表最终由53个题项构成,具有良好的信度和效度,可以作为评估大学生过去时间洞察力的工具。     

时间洞察力对拖延行为的影响机制:时间折扣的中介作用

采用津巴多时间洞察力量表（ZTPI）、一般拖延量表（GPS）和跨期选择任务,考察了时间洞察力对拖延行为的影响,并从时间折扣视角检验了时间洞察力影响拖延行为的中介机制。结果表明（1）对553名大学生的测量数据进行逐步回归和优势分析,结果表明："未来"时间洞察力对拖延行为具有良好的预测力,解释率最高;（2）对121名大学生的测量数据进行中介分析,结果表明：时间折扣在时间洞察力影响拖延行为过程中起着中介作用。这些结果说明,"未来"时间洞察力对拖延行为具有较好的预测作用,而且未来时间洞察力对拖延行为的影响可能是通过时间折扣为中介实现的。     

Comparing Three Methods to Measure a Balanced Time Perspective: The Relationship Between a Balanced Time Perspective and Subjective Well-Being

The goals of this study were to determine the relations between having a balanced time perspective (BTP) with various measures of subjective well-being (SWB) and to test how various operationalizations of a BTP might impact the relation between having a BTP and SWB. We operationalized a balanced time perspective using: (a) Drake et al.’s Time Soc 17(1):47–61, (2008) cut-off-point method, (b) Boniwell et al.’s J Posit Psychol 5(1):24–40, (2010) suggestion of using a hierarchical cluster analysis, and (c) a deviation from a balanced time perspective (DBTP; Stolarski et al. Time Soc, 2011). The results demonstrated that having a BTP is related to increased satisfaction with life, happiness, positive affect, psychological need satisfaction, self-determination, vitality, and gratitude as well as decreased negative affect. Also, the DBTP was the best predictor of SWB. We discuss why individuals with a BTP are likely to be happier in life.     

中学生时间洞察力特质与健康行为选择内隐偏好：未来情景性思维的作用

本研究采用经典内隐联想测验任务,研究了现在享乐、现在宿命和未来三种时间洞察力特质中学生的健康行为选择内隐偏好以及未来情景性思维在时间洞察力类型与健康行为选择内隐偏好中的调节作用。结果发现：未来特质中学生的健康行为选择内隐偏好高于现在享乐和现在宿命特质中学生;未来情景性思维水平在中学生时间洞察力类型与健康行为选择内隐偏好的关系中起调节作用,即未来情景性思维显著提高现在享乐和未来特质中学生的健康行为选择内隐偏好,而对现在宿命特质的作用不显著。本研究的发现表明未来时间洞察力特质是中学生选择健康行为的积极因素;未来情景性思维能促进现在享乐和未来时间洞察力特质中学生的健康行为选择内隐偏好。