Future time perspective: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Abstract

Future time perspectiveKooij, Dorien; Kanfer, R.; Betts, M.; Rudolph, C.W. General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.-Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research -You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain -You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal Take down policyIf you believe that this document breaches copyright, please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. The ability to foresee, anticipate, and plan for future desired outcomes is crucial for wellbeing, motivation, and behavior. However, theories in organizational psychology do not incorporate time-related constructs such as Future Time Perspective (FTP), and research on FTP remains disjointed and scattered, with different domains focusing on different aspects of the construct, using different measures, and assessing different antecedents and consequences. In this review and meta-analysis, we aim to clarify the FTP construct, advance its theoretical development, and demonstrate its importance by: (a) integrating theory and empirical findings across different domains of research in order to identify major outcomes and antecedents of FTP, and (b) empirically examining whether and how these variables are moderated by FTP measures and dimensions. Results of a meta-analysis of k = 212 studies reveal significant relationships between FTP and major classes of consequences (i.e., those related to achievement, well-being, health behavior, risk behavior, and retirement planning), and between antecedents and FTP, as well as moderating effects of different FTP measures and dimensions. Highlighting the importance of FTP for organizational psychology theories, our findings demonstrate that FTP predicts these outcomes over-and-above the big five personality traits and mediates the associations between these personality traits and outcomes.Keywords: future time perspective; integrative review; meta-analysis; nomological network FUTURE TIME PERSPECTIVE META-ANALYSIS 3 Future Time Perspective: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis "We all have our time machines. Some take us back, they're called memories.Some take us forward, they're called dreams." (Irons, 1948).Time surrounds and embeds all human behavior (McGrath & Kelly, 1992). Time provides individuals with a benchmark for orienting the self in the midst of myriad ongoing activities in work and non-work life roles, such as learning, task performance, and parenting.Time also provides individuals with a point of reference (Mohammed & Nadkarni, 2011;Ringle & Savickas, 1983) and a salient metric by which to organize, construct, re...

How have we, do we, and will we measure time perspective? A review of methodological and measurement issues

“…As the most researched temporal frame, a subset of research concentrates only on future time perspective because it has been shown to exhibit profound effects on motivation, well‐being, and work‐related attitudes and outcomes such as performance (e.g., Andre et al, ; Kooij et al, ; Rudolph et al, ). Future time perspective reflects a general concern and deliberation about the future (e.g., Kooij et al, ).…”

“…Specifically, a recent meta‐analysis of 212 studies across 65 years concluded that future time perspective was positively correlated with grade point average, life satisfaction, subjective health, physical exercise, and financial knowledge (Kooij et al, ). As expected, future time perspective was also negatively associated with anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and risk behavior (Kooij et al, ).…”

“…Specifically, a recent meta‐analysis of 212 studies across 65 years concluded that future time perspective was positively correlated with grade point average, life satisfaction, subjective health, physical exercise, and financial knowledge (Kooij et al, ). As expected, future time perspective was also negatively associated with anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and risk behavior (Kooij et al, ). The key conclusion of another meta‐analysis of 77 independent samples was that cognition, affect, and intentions about the future exert a significant influence on health, work, and educational outcomes (Andre et al, ).…”

“…Fifty‐eight years later in 2018, the conclusion of a quantitative review of the time perspective literature was strikingly similar: “Different approaches have focused on distinctive dimensions of the FTP [future time perspective] construct (e.g., orientation or continuity), resulting in different conceptualizations and operationalizations of the construct. This diversity in approaches often leads to inconsistent and contradictory empirical findings” (Kooij et al, , p. 868).…”

“…(Wallace & Rabin, , p. 230)

In summary, there remains considerable inconsistency in the way that FTP [future time perspective] is conceptualized, the dimensionality of the construct, and the way that the construct is assessed. (Kooij, Kanfer, Betts, & Rudolph, , p. 869)

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