Fluid Intelligence as a Mediator of the Relationship between Executive Control and Balanced Time Perspective

Abstract

This study examined the cognitive foundations of the balanced time perspective (BTP) proposed by Zimbardo and Boyd (1999). Although BTP is defined as the mental ability to switch effectively between different temporal perspectives, its connection with cognitive functioning has not yet been established. We addressed this by exploring the relationships between time perspectives and both fluid intelligence (measured with Raven’s and Cattell’s tests) and executive control (Go/No-go and anti-saccade tasks). An investigation conducted among Polish adults (N = 233) revealed that more balanced TP profile was associated with higher fluid intelligence, and higher executive control. Moreover, we found that the relationship between executive control and BTP was completely mediated by fluid intelligence with the effect size (the ratio of the indirect effect to the total effect) of 0.75, which suggests that cognitive abilities play an important role in adoption of temporal balance. The findings have relevance to time perspective theory as they provide valuable insight into the mechanisms involved in assigning human experience to certain time frames.

Cognitive consequences of timeframe bias. On the link between working memory, cognitive switching, and time perspective

“…First, we expected that two time perspectives, Past Negative and Present Fatalism, would be associated with lower WM updating and switching (H1). Previous studies have shown that these two TPs are systematically correlated with poorer cognitive functioning (Witowska and Zajenkowski 2018;Zajenkowski et al 2016aZajenkowski et al , 2016b. Both TPs are strongly associated with negative emotionality, e.g.…”

“…Furthermore, BTP was correlated with high levels of fluid intelligence and inhibition (Zajenkowski et al 2016a, b). It has been suggested that fluid ability and inhibitory control allow individuals to be less biased toward a particular time zone, especially maladaptive ones such as Past Negative and Present Fatalism (Zajenkowski et al 2016b).…”

“…Recently, with growing interest time perspective has come to be understood more as an aspect of personality (Zimbardo and Boyd 1999) and a link to cognitive functioning has been observed (Witowska and Zajenkowski 2018;Zajenkowski et al , 2016a. One of the important findings in this area is the association between certain time perspective dimensions and executive control (Witowska and Zajenkowski 2018;Zajenkowski et al 2016b). However, previous studies have focused solely on inhibition, while executive control is a broader construct (Diamond 2013).…”

Mindfulness Promotes a More Balanced Time Perspective: Correlational and Intervention-Based Evidence

“…Potential common associations of mindfulness and BTP with cognitive abilities are moreover of interest. Findings that better inhibition ability is related to lower DBTP (Zajenkowski et al 2016) and is the executive component for which improvements following MBIs are most evident (Galliant 2016) are of interest at this point. Potential common neural underpinnings of the construct should be investigated further; preliminary evidence seem to suggest that both mindfulness (Tang et al 2015) and BTP (Guo et al 2017) involve increased connectivity of certain areas in the Default Mode Network.…”

Risky financial choices in a gain and loss decision frame – the role of chronic and situationally induced time perspectives

“…As a result of a number of preliminary studies, Zimbardo and Boyd (1999) distinguished five TPs: Past Negative, reflecting a negative perception of the past; Past Positive, characterized by a sentimental perception of the past; Present Hedonistic, characterized by striving toward present pleasure and enjoyment; Present Fatalistic, related to a hopeless attitude toward the future, and Future, concentrated on future goals and rewards. One's perception of time was found to be a relatively stable individual difference trait and have been associated with affective (Stolarski et al 2014), cognitive (Zajenkowski et al 2016), and behavioral (Harber et al 2003) outcomes. There are also initial studies showing that personal Time Perspective can be modified by the therapeutic process (Sword et al 2014).…”