IS TIME PERSPECTIVE A PREDICTOR FOR EDUCATIONAL ASPIRATIONS?

BACKGROUND: The construct of time perspective (TP) describes how people experience the past, the present, and the future (Lewin, 1951; Zimbardo & Boyd, 1999). TP does also affect expectations and goals towards the future (Zimbardo & Boyd, 2008). To measure TP, Zimbardo and Boyd (1999) developed the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI). In newer developments of this questionnaire (e.g., Kostal et al., 2015), 6 dimensions of time perspective are distinguished: past-negative (e.g., “I often think of what I should have done differently in my life”), past-positive (e.g., “It gives me pleasure to think about my past”), present-fatalistic (e.g., “Since whatever will be will be, it doesn’t really matter what I do”), present-hedonistic (e.g., “I take risks to put excitement in my life”), future-negative (e.g., “To think about my future makes me sad”), and future-positive (e.g., “I complete projects on time by making steady progress”). Several correlation analyses have been done confirming relationships between TP and other relevant psychological variables, like, for example, depression and neuroticism (van Beek et al., 2011), mental health (Gilbert & Sifers, 2011), well-being (Zhang et al., 2013), and substance abuse (Barnett et al., 2013). However, rarely, if ever, has been investigated whether TP is related to educational aspirations. Since educational aspirations entail expectations or wishes of an individual in regard to her or his future academic achievements (Klapproth, 2020), it seems reasonable to assume that a high level of educational aspirations would correspond with a high level of positive time perspective. Similarly, educational aspirations should negatively relate to present (both fatalistic and hedonistic) time perspective. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: In the present study, N = 134 undergraduates (73.9 % female, mean age = 22.1 years, SD = 3.6), enrolled in a psychology study program in a German university, participated and provided information about their educational aspirations and their time perspective. Aspirations were measured by the participants’ wishes (idealistic aspirations) and expectations (realistic aspirations) about their final grades and their further academic career. TP was assessed by the administration of the ZTPI scale (Kostal et al., 2015). RESULTS: Bivariate correlation analyses showed a significant negative relationship between the expected final grade and future-positive TP, r = -.18, p = .037, a significant positive relationship between the expected final grade and future-negative TP, r = .17, p = .049, and a significant negative relationship between expecting a doctoral degree and present-fatalistic TP, r = -.28, p = .001. All further correlations were not significant. CONCLUSIONS: The results show that whereas realistic educational aspirations had some relationships with TP, idealistic aspirations were not related to TP. This result suggests that TP is a personality variable affecting (realistic) expectations more than (idealistic) wishes. Moreover, it can be assumed from the results obtained that educational careers, which largely depend on educational aspirations, are constrained by TP. Students who are positively oriented towards the future are more likely to develop high level aspirations and therefore may be more successful in the future in terms of grades and educational outcomes.