Ever wonder why some people are stuck in the past, too future-oriented, or fixated on the present time? Here’s your answer: time perspective. What is it, and how is it affecting our behavior? Let’s discuss it below.
What is Time Perspective?
Time perspective is how we view time, such as past, present, and future. This influences our decision-making and behavior. Researcher Zimbardo & Boyd (1999) first introduced this concept. At first, five types explain how we view time: past-positive, past-negative, present-hedonistic, present-fatalistic, and future-oriented. Later on, a new category was added: transcendental-future.
Past-Positive
People who view the past as positive -“good old days“-, often have a past-positive time perspective. Some behavioral indicators could be: collecting photos, celebrating traditional holidays, or engaging in family traditions. With this time perspective, people treasure their past, as they also behave in the present based on pleasant past experiences.
Past-Negative
In contrast to past-positive, past-negative, as stated in its name, regards the past as an unpleasant event. While past-positive people maintain the “good old days”, past-negative has the “life always lets you down“. Moreover, images of the past are mainly about failed attempts, regrets, or tragedies. With this time perspective, some view life as something that never changes, as in the past, most of the things went wrong.
Present-Hedonistic
This time perspective focuses on the present, and how it can be maximized to gain pleasure. Most people with present-hedonistic views have “You only live once,” and “Do it now!” life slogans. What they do now is what’s important, especially because it’s pleasure-oriented.
Present-Fatalistic
Even though present-fatalistic is present-focused as well, people with this time perspective tend to be passive, and not actively seeking pleasure. Fate already decided our lives, so to them, it’s no use in plotting or actively making decisions. With this view, people also believe that they have little to no control over life.
Future-oriented
Different from the previous four types, future-oriented people pay attention to what will happen. Most of the people with this time perspective calculated their actions now to obtain a desirable future. It is also not uncommon for these people to feel like time is not enough as they have a lot to do, to catch up for a better tomorrow.
Transcendental-future Time Perspective
At this time perspectives also focused on the future, it transcends our future life. The future that this type focuses on is after our death: could be the afterlife (in the sense of religious beliefs) or future generations (in the sense of secular beliefs). For the former, the people focus on something that could make their next life easier or rewarded. While for the latter, it’s about how our future generations, around thousands of years from now, will benefit.
Is it okay to stuck in one time perspective?
Sometimes, over-fixating on something can cause us to be unbiased, for example, if we tend to focus too much on our past, we might miss cherishing our present and planning for our future. On the other hand, if we focus too much on the future, our present might suffer. In the Time Perspective theory, there’s a goal to develop a balanced time perspective.
That is, how we can use our past as a lesson or recall a positive experience to be grateful for our present and enjoy our current life, all while also planning to move towards a better future.
Other than that, a balanced-time perspective contributes to and/or is associated with subjective well-being, mental health (such as distress, anxiety, symptoms of affective disorders and burnout), cognition processes, personality, interpersonal relations, and self-control, according to Stolarski et al. (2020). In addition, Zimbardo also introduced a time-perspective therapy for PTSD treatment.
Read more
Boniwell, I. (2012). Positive psychology in a nutshell: the science of happiness: The Science of Happiness. McGraw-Hill Education (UK).
Boyd, J., & Zimbardo, P. (2012). The time paradox: Using the New Psychology of Time to Your Advantage. Random House.
Stolarski, M., Zajenkowski, M., Jankowski, K. S., & Szymaniak, K. (2020). Deviation from the balanced time perspective: A systematic review of empirical relationships with psychological variables. Personality and Individual Differences, 156, 109772. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.109772
Zimbardo, P., Sword, R., & Sword, R. (2012). The time cure: Overcoming PTSD with the New Psychology of Time Perspective Therapy. John Wiley & Sons.
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