Occupational future time perspective: A meta‐analysis of antecedents and outcomes

Abstract

Summary Occupational future time perspective (OFTP) refers to employees' perceptions of their future in the employment context. Based on lifespan and organizational psychology theories, we review research on OFTP and offer a meta‐analysis of antecedents and outcomes of OFTP (K = 40 independent samples, N = 19,112 workers). Results show that OFTP is associated with individual characteristics and personal resources, including age (ρ = −0.55), job tenure (ρ = −0.23), organizational tenure (ρ = −0.25), educational level (ρ = 0.16), and self‐rated physical health (ρ = 0.16), as well as job characteristics, such as job autonomy (ρ = 0.22). Moreover, OFTP is related to important work outcomes, including job satisfaction (ρ = 0.28), organizational commitment (ρ = 0.41), work engagement (ρ = 0.22), retirement intentions (ρ = −0.37), and work continuance intentions (ρ = 0.16). OFTP is also related to task (ρ = 0.11) and contextual performance (ρ = 0.20). Additional analyses show that OFTP predicts job attitudes and work performance above and beyond the effects of another developmental regulation construct, selection, optimization, and compensation strategies. Overall, the findings of our meta‐analysis suggest that OFTP is an important construct in the context of an aging workforce.

Obstacles open the door — Negative shocks can motivate individuals to focus on opportunities

“…The way how individuals perceive their future can influence their career decisions, career maturity (Cheng et al 2016), job satisfaction (Weikamp and Göritz 2016), occupational self-efficacy, career commitment and turnover intention (Park and Jung 2015). However, there is a lack of research in how constraining job factors such as negative life events and hindering job demands impact employees' future time perspective (Rudolph et al, 2018). Examining and discussing constraining job factors as antecedents can enrich the understanding of future time perspective.…”

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

“…Contemplation of the past, present, and future matters; it matters for cognition, affect, motivation, and behavior (Andre et al, 2018;Kooij et al, 2018;Rudolph et al, 2018). Because time perspective is such a significant construct with far-reaching implications, remedying its conceptual and measurement problems is essential for future research.…”

“…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 workrelated attitudes and outcomes such as performance (e.g., Andre et al, 2018;Kooij et al, 2018;Rudolph et al, 2018). Future time perspective reflects a general concern and deliberation about the future (e.g., Kooij et al, 2018).…”

“…In 1999, Zimbardo and Boyd lamented "the disjointed, noncumulative nature of past research; the lack of adequate theory; and the absence of a standard, reliable, and valid measure for assessing time perspective" (p. 20). Twenty years later, the volume of research on time perspective has substantially increased, and four recent meta-analyses have quantitatively reviewed various threads of this research (e.g., Andre et al, 2018;Kooij et al, 2018;Milfont et al, 2012;Rudolph et al, 2018). However, the literature can still be characterized as "disjointed" and without a "standard, reliable, and valid measure for assessing time perspective" (Zimbardo & Boyd, 1999, p. 20).…”

“…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, 2018). Moreover, occupational future time perspective (reflecting how much time and opportunities individuals perceive having left in their working future) was found to positively predict task and contextual performance as well as work engagement, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and work continuance intentions in a recent meta-analysis of 40 independent studies (Rudolph, Kooij, Rauvola, & Zacher, 2018).…”