Future time perspective: its relation to the socialization process and the delinquent role

Alcohol and Drug Use among Youth - The Interplay of Future Orientation, Parenting, and Housing Conditions

Background: Past research indicated that future orientation might protect against substance use; however, this potential had not yet been examined in the context of a multiple risk factor model that would include different parenting styles and indicators of the material situation. Additionally, past research draws primarily from a limited set of geographical regions, often using convenience samples of children and adolescents. Objectives: The current study addresses these issues by examining (in)direct relationships between substance use (alcohol, marijuana, hard drugs), future orientation, different parenting styles (authoritarian, authoritative, permissive), and family housing conditions, using a representative sample of Slovenian youth. Methods: Correlational and path analyses were used to test the proposed hypotheses. Additionally, possible mediating pathways were examined and evaluated. Results: Findings indicated a negative relation between future orientation and use of all substances. Next, future orientation fully mediated the effect of authoritative parenting on substance use. Finally, housing conditions had a direct and positive effect on authoritative parenting, a direct and an indirect effect on future orientation and only an indirect (through authoritative parenting and future orientation) effect on substance use. Conclusions: Results, besides indicating the relevance of future orientation in understanding substance use among youth, highlight the importance of authoritative parenting (that spans beyond childhood and adolescence) and housing conditions on the development of future orientation. In addition, findings highlight the importance of the material situation when examining antecedents of substance use among youth that might be missed if only direct effects are observed. Results are discussed in the context of the risk factor paradigm.

Future time perspective and interpersonal empathy: Implications for preferring autonomy- versus dependency-oriented helping

We examined whether potential help givers' future time perspective (FTP) accounts for the decision to give a person in need dependency-oriented help (i.e., providing the complete solution) or autonomy-oriented help (i.e., providing the means to solve a problem). In addition, building on past research on the effects of empathy in help giving decisions, the present research explored whether helpers' willingness to offer specific type of help is predicted by the interaction between FTP and interpersonal empathy. We explored FTP as both a personal predisposition (Study 1) and an experimentally induced state of mind (Study 2). The present research provides a novel perspective on theory and research on help giving behaviour, FTP, and empathy, by showing that when interpersonal empathy is high, considerations of the future predict readiness to give help that promotes person's present and future independent coping rather than help that creates and preserves social dependence.

Future Time Perspective of Delinquents and Non-Delinquents

This study investigated the assumption that both delinquency and institutionalization independently have a limiting effect on the range of future time perspective (FTP). For this purpose four main groups took part in the study: institutionalized delinquents (prison inmates); institutionalized non-delinquents (soldiers); non-institutionalized delinquents (delinquents on probation); and non-institutionalized non-delinquents (vocational students). The data were consistent with the hypotheses: the prisoners showed the shortest FTP, while vocational students showed the longest. The soldiers' and the probationers' FTP was longer than that of the prisoners but shorter than that of the vocational students. Within the army and the prison, the range of FTP shortened as the subject approached release.

Besides the practical implications of the findings, this study demonstrates the need to control in a proper way the factor of institutionalization when studying personality or behavioral aspects of delinquents. The need for further research on this topic is emphasized in order to ascertain the generalizability of the results of this study.

Comparative Extension of Personal and Social-Political Future Time Perspective

Measures of personal future time perspective (FTP) and social-political FTP and an endorsement of Negro rights militancy scale were administered to 119 white and 221 black high school students, of whom 103 and 188 respectively produced usable data. The two racial subgroups did not differ in capacity to take a long-range point of view in regard to their personal futures; however, the black students organized their attitudes about black liberation in terms of a much briefer future time span than that considered appropriate by whites. Militancy was not associated with any deficiency in the ability to anticipate the future.

Future Time Perspectives of Adolescents in India and The United States

A review of event-listing research suggests that longer time perspective is associated with more favorable characteristics including higher socio-economic level. The major samples consisted of approximately 100 boys and 80 girls each in ninth grades in small towns in India and America. They did not show significant differences on median time attributed to seven expected life events, though Indian boys showed greater diversity. In smaller samples in large cities, high socio-economic groups had longer time spans, but again nationality and sex differences did not appear. Content analysis showed a greater American emphasis on leisure and one's own courtship, marriage, and children, while a greater Indian emphasis was placed on other's courtship, marriage, and children, other's deaths and health. For further work, the authors suggested the study of individual meanings attached to this aspect of life perspective and planning.

The Concept of Time in Rehabilitation and Psychosocial Adaptation to Chronic Illness and Disability

The first part of this article focused on providing the reader with a general overview of the concept of time with special emphasis on understanding time’s role in the structure of personality theories and their associated therapeutic approaches, as well as linking the discussion to the understanding of time in the context of psychosocial adaptation to chronic illnesses and disabilities (CIDs). In the second part of this article, the author seeks to (a) briefly comment on the association among death, disability, and time; (b) discuss findings from the clinical and empirical literatures regarding time perception/orientation within the context of psychiatric disabilities; (c) review findings on the relationships between time perception/orientation and psychosocial adaptation to CIDs; and (d) highlight those treatment modalities that have been suggested for individuals whose disabilities have resulted in time distortions.

Adolescents' expectations for the future predict health behaviors in early adulthood

Health-related behaviors in adolescence establish trajectories of risk for obesity and chronic degenerative diseases, and they represent an important pathway through which socio-economic environments shape patterns of morbidity and mortality. Most behaviors that promote health involve making choices that may not pay off until the future, but the factors that predict an individual's investment in future health are not known. In this paper we consider whether expectations for the future in two domains relevant to adolescents in the U.S.-perceived chances of living to middle age and perceived chances of attending college-are associated with an individual's engagement in behaviors that protect health in the long run. We focus on adolescence as an important life stage during which habits formed may shape trajectories of disease risk later in life. We use data from a large, nationally representative sample of American youth (the US National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health) to predict levels of physical activity, fast food consumption, and cigarette smoking in young adulthood in relation to perceived life chances in adolescence, controlling for baseline health behaviors and a wide range of potentially confounding factors. We found that adolescents who rated their chances of attending college more highly exercised more frequently and smoked fewer cigarettes in young adulthood. Adolescents with higher expectations of living to age 35 smoked fewer cigarettes as young adults. Parental education was a significant predictor of perceived life chances, as well as health behaviors, but for each outcome the effects of perceived life chances were independent of, and often stronger than, parental education. Perceived life chances in adolescence may therefore play an important role in establishing individual trajectories of health, and in contributing to social gradients in population health.

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.

Future Time Orientation and Temperament: Exploration of Their Relationship to Primary and Secondary Psychopathy

The present study combines Lykken's theory about the role of reward sensitivity and punishment insensitivity in the development of antisocial behavior with Gjesme's theory of future time orientation. 158 adolescents comprised a target group of 79 adolescents who had defined behavioral problems and a matched referential group of 79 adolescents who did not have notable behavioral problems. The results suggest that attributes related to primary psychopathy are associated with a relatively weak or hyporeactive behavioral inhibition system, behavioral approach reactivity, and low future time orientation. Moreover, attributes related to secondary psychopathy are related to an overly sensitive (hyper-reactive) behavioral approach system and low future time orientation. Robust positive associations for behavioral approach reactivity and low future time orientation with primary and secondary psychopathy suggest that high behavioral approach/low future time orientation may represent a core feature common to the two factors of psychopathy.

Health status and behavioral outcomes for youth who anticipate a high likelihood of early death

OBJECTIVE

The relationship between adolescents' perceived risk for dying and their involvement in risk behaviors is unknown. We sought to determine the proportion of US youth who anticipate a high likelihood of early mortality and relationships with health status and risk behaviors over time.

METHODS

We analyzed data from times 1 (1995), 2 (1996), and 3 (2001-2002) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a nationally representative sample of youth in grades 7 through 12. The relationship between perceived risk for premature mortality and health behaviors/outcomes was assessed by using bivariate and multivariate analyses.

RESULTS

At time 1, 14.7% of the 20594 respondents reported at least a 50/50 chance that they would not live to age 35. In adjusted models, illicit drug use, suicide attempt, fight-related injury, police arrest, unsafe sexual activity, and a diagnosis of HIV/AIDS predicted early death perception at time 2, time 3, or both (adjusted odds ratios: 1.26-5.12). Conversely, perceived early mortality at time 1 predicted each of these behaviors and outcomes, except illicit drug use, at time 2 or time 3, most strongly a diagnosis of HIV/AIDS (adjusted odds ratios: 7.13 [95% confidence interval: 2.50-20.36]).

CONCLUSIONS

Adolescent involvement in risk behaviors predicted a belief in premature mortality 1 and 7 years later. Reciprocally, adolescents' perceived risk for early death predicted serious health outcomes, notably a diagnosis of HIV/AIDS in young adulthood. Given its frequency and influence on behavior and health, adolescents' perceived risk for early death should be incorporated into psychosocial assessments and interviews.

Impulsive and premeditated subtypes of aggression in conduct disorder: differences in time estimation

Research aimed at identifying and studying subtypes of aggression have historically dichotomized aggressive subtypes, although specific nomenclature has varied; one approach has been to classify aggressive behavior as predominantly impulsive or predominantly premeditated. There are a number of behavioral and cognitive differences between those exhibiting these different forms of aggression. This study was designed to extend understanding of the impulsive/premeditated aggression dichotomy by comparing time estimation among adolescents exhibiting predominantly impulsive or predominantly premeditated forms of physical aggression who have a psychiatric diagnosis of conduct disorder (CD). Time estimation has previously been shown to be disrupted in impulsive and some aggressive individuals. Time estimation was compared between healthy Controls (n = 37) and two groups of adolescents with CD, those with histories of either predominantly impulsive (CD-Impulsive, n = 26) or predominantly premeditated (CD-Premeditated, n = 38) aggressive behaviors. Participants completed five computerized trials during which they estimated when 1 min had passed. Among aggressive adolescents with CD, the misperception of time was specific to those with histories of impulsive aggression, although time estimates improved with repeated testing and performance feedback. This study confirms the importance of considering the role and type of physical aggression when studying heterogeneous diagnostic groups like CD and supports the relevance of time estimation to certain subgroups of adolescents with CD.

Social patterning of screening uptake and the impact of facilitating informed choices: psychological and ethical analyses

Screening for unsuspected disease has both possible benefits and harms for those who participate. Historically the benefits of participation have been emphasized to maximize uptake reflecting a public health approach to policy; currently policy is moving towards an informed choice approach involving giving information about both benefits and harms of participation. However, no research has been conducted to evaluate the impact on health of an informed choice policy. Using psychological models, the first aim of this study was to describe an explanatory framework for variation in screening uptake and to apply this framework to assess the impact of informed choices in screening. The second aim was to evaluate ethically that impact. Data from a general population survey (n = 300) of beliefs and attitudes towards participation in diabetes screening indicated that greater orientation to the present is associated with greater social deprivation and lower expectation of participation in screening. The results inform an explanatory framework of social patterning of screening in which greater orientation to the present focuses attention on the disadvantages of screening, which tend to be immediate, thereby reducing participation. This framework suggests that an informed choice policy, by increasing the salience of possible harms of screening, might reduce uptake of screening more in those who are more deprived and orientated to the present. This possibility gives rise to an apparent dilemma where an ethical decision must be made between greater choice and avoiding health inequality. Philosophical perspectives on choice and inequality are used to point to some of the complexities in assessing whether there really is such a dilemma and if so how it should be resolved. The paper concludes with a discussion of the ethics of paternalism.

FUTURE TIME ORIENTATION AND RELIGION

The purposes of this study were to evaluate whether Future Time Orientation (FTO) was associated with interest in the future beyond death, and/or with level of belief in religion, and also to validate an instrument aimed at measuring belief in religion in Turkish society. Gjesme's (1979) FTO scale was administered to 244 undergraduate students from Middle East Technical University together with a scale developed to measure Belief Orientations and a single-item measure designed to assess a subject's level of interest in the future beyond death. Results indicated that those who scored high in FTO also tended to score high in level of interest about the future beyond death and level of belief in God (intrinsic religiosity), compared to those who scored low in FTO. Research implications and suggestions for future studies are discussed.

FUTURE TIME ORIENTATION IN ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS AND THE MINDING THEORY OF RELATING

The aim of this study was to explore the differences between high and low scorers of Future Time Orientation in Romantic Relationships (FTORR) on the three subscales of the minding scale, namely Acceptance, Knowledge, and Attribution. Undergraduate students (N = 160) from Middle East Technical University were given the FTORR scale developed by Öner (2000b) together with the Minding Scale developed by Omarzu, Whalen and Harvey (2001). Results indicated an interaction effect between subscales of the minding scale and FTORR. In terms of the “Acceptance” subscale, individuals with high FTORR scores were found to score lower than were individuals who had lower FTORR scores – whereas for both “Knowledge” and “Attribution” measures, individuals with higher scores of FTORR scored higher than did individuals who had lower FTORR scores. Detailed analysis of the results and research implications were discussed.

Factors predicting future time orientation for romantic relationships with the opposite sex

The author examines the possible connection of predictors of future time orientation to romantic relationships with the opposite sex using the Future Time Orientation in Romantic Relationships Scale (FTORR; B. Oner, 2000b). The variables suggested as correlates with FTORR scores in B. Oner's (2000a) study were subjected to regression analysis. The results indicated that relationship satisfaction and an eagerness to break up negative relationships were negatively related to FTORR scores, whereas being a woman, experiencing jealousy, and the degree of selectivity in choosing a dating partner were positively related to FTORR scores. Caution and relationship commitment both predicted FTORR scores through the mediating effect of relationship satisfaction. The author discusses the implications of the findings.

Relationship satisfaction and dating experience: factors affecting future time orientation in relationships with the opposite sex

This study was conducted to examine the effects of relationship satisfaction and dating experience on future time orientation in relationships with the opposite sex. Data from a sample of 226 undergraduate students from Middle East Technical University indicated that individuals who were highly satisfied in their relationships with the opposite sex tended to seek temporary relationships more and tended to be less future focused in their relationships than those who were less satisfied. Results also indicated that present dating experience did not show any significant effect on future time orientation; however, previous dating experience did show an effect in the interaction with relationship satisfaction and different factors of future time orientation. Implications of these results are discussed.

Profiles of time perspective and personality: developmental considerations

Time perspective is an important but subtle cognitive construct underlying personality, decision making, and goal setting. This study identified 3 temporal dimensions--temporal extension, temporal attitude, and temporal structure--and reviewed the associations among them. T. J. Cottle's (1969, 1977) work on temporal profiles was briefly reviewed; it suggested that 3 types of temporal profiles can be isolated and that 3 broad personality dimensions--human agency, mood, and temperament--from characteristic associations with each of the temporal profiles. The authors expected the profiles to reflect developmental sensitivities as a person moves from adolescence into early adulthood. Two samples (159 high school students and 236 university students) participated in the study. The results provided some limited support for the actualizer and atomist profiles; somewhat surprisingly, the role of temporal extension appeared to be insignificant. No evidence was found for a developmental transition of time perspective between middle adolescence (15-17 years) and early adulthood (18-25 years).

Time perspective: temporal extension, time estimation, and impulsivity

It has been proposed that time perspective is an important variable that can, in part, explain the differences between people in terms of the development of self-control. One corollary of this position is that time perspective is somehow related to systematic biases in the way people perceive the passage of time. Such a bias may or may not be augmented by an association between time perspective and impulsivity. Two studies were conducted using measures of temporal extension, time estimation, and impulsivity. In general, no consistent effects were found. Neither time perspective nor impulsivity was related to any characteristic pattern of errors. In the second study, time perspective (mediated by age) was associated with predicting very brief time estimation scores, but not longer time estimation periods. It was concluded that whatever the mechanism might be that underlies the purported effect between time perspective and self-control, it is not related to a differential ability to perceive time moving more or less quickly.

Future time perspective in current and previous injecting drug users

Future time perspective (FTP) is a measure of an individual's ability to conceptualise the future which has been shown to be foreshortened in drug addicts. We studied 100 opiate injecting drug users (IDUs) in New South Wales, Australia, of which half were currently injecting and half were not. There was a significant difference between the two groups on FTP, with those currently injecting having a truncated FTP extension. Factor analysis of the FTP scale suggested that the dimensions of future time may differ between groups, with current injectors having a perspective of loss and isolation compared to the dimension of self-evaluation and self-acceptance in those not currently injecting. These data support previous studies which demonstrated truncated FTP, also demonstrating a difference in currently (as opposed to previously) IDUs and suggest that both extension of FTP and an alteration of the dimensions of FTP are associated with cessation of injecting and entry into treatment.

Suicide and time perspective: an examination of Beck and Yufit's suicide-risk indicators

Both Beck and Yufit have developed indices of risk for suicidal groups. An investigation with 86 university students explored the concurrent and convergent validity of both scales. The current study reports moderate correlations between these two measures as a test of concurrent validity. In addition, both authors argue for the importance of time perspective in the development of these tests. The Hopelessness Scale was found to correlate well with other attitudinal measures of time perspective. The correlational pattern of the Time Questionnaire presented a less coherent pattern of association across temporal orientation, extension, and temporal attitude scales.

Preventing the sexual transmission of AIDS during adolescence

In order to be effective, the national effort to contain the spread of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) must include a youth focus. Knowledge of adolescent sexual behavior, drug use, and sexually transmitted diseases suggests that many adolescents are in jeopardy of acquiring Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infections; and they are among those most likely to benefit from preventative efforts as they explore adult roles and lifestyles. Preventative education should particularly target gay and other homosexually active young men. Effective teaching uses a variety of approaches and media, both inside and outside the classroom. Learning about AIDS is most likely to effect behavioral change when accompanied by other programs to build social supports, self-esteem, and positive identity. The ethical and rational use of HIV antibody testing may be a helpful adjunct to education for certain adolescents. Ultimately, our society's ability to address complex, associated social issues will determine our ability to control AIDS.

Success and failure in rehabilitation: the case of methadone maintenance

This research addresses itself to two problematic aspects of methadone maintenance: definition and measure of success of methadone rehabilitation programs and the location and prediction of those features which characterize patients successfully rehabilitated by such programs. For the first time, this research used a differentiated criterion to evaluate success, utilizing five different measures for its evaluation: consumption of methadone, consumption of illicit drugs, group therapy attendance, crime rate, and employment patterns. At the same time, we have theoretically and empirically established that two distinct types of patients exist: the future-oriented and the past-oriented. This time orientation remains constant throughout the patient's stay on the program. Future-oriented patients met with a significantly greater degree of success in the program than past-oriented patients.

Future Events Test: Equivalent Forms and Criminality

In a study with 48 undergraduate students (24 male, 24 female) two forms of the Future Events Test correlated only moderately ( r = 0.43). In a further study, with offenders, using Form II of the test 40 male prisoners (25 Europeans, 15 Maoris) had a lower mean score than did 40 male parolees (25 Europeans, 15 Maoris) but the difference was significant for Maoris only. This suggests that the effects of imprisonment may be greater for Maoris than Europeans by inducing a foreshortening of future time perspective.

Some personality correlates of time competence, temporal extension and temporal evaluation

In a study of the relationship among three temporal dimensions, viz., competence, extension, and evaluation, and a number of personality variables including ego strength, external control, and dogmatism for 21 males and 19 females time competence and temporal evaluation related closely to a number of these variables while the relationship with extension was weak. The implications were discussed with reference to the value and validity of measures of temporal extension.

Temporal perspective as a personality dimension in college students: a re-evaluation

Relationships among 6 measures of temporal perspective and 9 personality variables were examined separately for male and female college students, and a factor analysis of scores was carried out. Scores (males: ns = 49 to 54; females: ns = 81 to 121) on temporal perspective instruments were significantly related to personality variables, although not in any consistent manner. The factor analysis showed different measures of temporal perspective to share little common meaning. The presumed unitary nature of the concept is challenged.