A French version of the Balanced Time Perspective Scale: Factor structure and relation to cognitive reappraisal.

Abstract

A frequent and equal tendency to think positively about one's past and future has been conceptualised as a balanced time perspective (TP). Such a dispositional temporal orientation has been associated with higher life satisfaction and happiness. The aim of the present study was to develop and to validate a French version of the Balanced Time Perspective Scale (BTPS; Webster, 2011), which has been specifically designed to assess the combined use of positive future and past mental representations as resources for the self. Data were collected from an online survey in a sample of 622 French-speaking individuals from the general population. Results indicated that the French version of the BTPS replicated the 2-factor structure of the original questionnaire, and showed excellent internal consistency. External validity was supported by specific relationships with measures of TP and positive affect. In addition, a high propensity to project oneself positively both in the future and the past was associated with greater use of cognitive reappraisal.

The meaning of temporal balance: Does meaning in life mediate the relationship between a balanced time perspective and mental health?

“…First, the homogenous cultural background of our respondents reduces (intercultural) generalizability of the obtained results. We note, however, that our results are highly consistent with both Dutch (Webster et al, 2014) and French (Barsics et al, 2017) studies, both of which used larger samples (N = 512 and N = 622 respectively). Second, future studies should try to include a more balanced gender ratio as this study had a high percentage of female participants with higher levels of education.…”

“…Using the initial scale, a BTP was positively associated with self-esteem, happiness, attributional complexity, wisdom, and mental health ( Webster, 2011 ; Webster, Bohlmeijer, & Westerhof, 2014 ; Webster & Ma, 2013 ), as well as higher delay of gratification and higher ability to imagine future scenarios ( Gӧllner, Ballhausen, Kliegel, & Forstmeier, 2018 ). Recently, scores on a French version of the scale ( Barsics, Rebetez, Rochat, D’Argembeau, & Van der Linden, 2017 ) positively correlated with emotional regulation and positive affect. Using the more recent mBTPS, Vowinckel et al (2017) found that a BTP was positively correlated with measures of flow, mindfulness, and mental health and Webster (in press ) found that a BTP was also positively associated with adaptive identity styles and flourishing.…”

A Time for Being Thankful: Balanced Time Perspective and Gratitude

“…It has also been reported that higher BTP is associated with higher life satisfaction and general happiness (Barsics, Rebetez, Rochat, D'Argembeau, & Van der Linden, 2017;Boniwell & Zimbardo, 2004;Simons, Peeters, Janssens, Lataster, & Jacobs, 2016;Webster & Ma, 2013;Gao, 2011), extraversion (Stolarski, 2016;, positive orientation (Sobol-Kwapińska & Jankowski, 2016), satisfaction with interpersonal relations (Stolarski, Wojtkowska, & Kwiecińska, 2016), emotional intelligence (Stolarski, Bitner, & Zimbardo, 2011), and mindfulness (Selma & Sircova, 2013;Stolarski, Wojtkowska, & Kwiecińska, 2016). Moreover, higher BTP is negatively correlated with pathophysiological stress (Olivera-Figueroa, Juster, Morin-Major, Marin, & Lupien, 2015).…”

Back to the future: A way to increase prosocial behavior

“…S1 Table in S1 File describes demographical data and the groups scores on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) [ 32 ], the Balanced Time Perspective Scale (BTPS) [ 33 , 34 ], the Prosocialness Scale for Adults (PSA) [ 35 ], the Self-Report Altruism Scale (SRA) [ 36 ], and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) [ 37 , 38 ]. In order to test whether groups differed on these scores independent t -tests were performed.…”

“…Following this task, participants played the ZPG on a computer. At the end of the ZPG, participants completed the Balanced Time Perspective Scale (BTPS) [ 33 , 34 ], the Prosocialness Scale for Adults (PSA) [ 35 ], the Self-Report Altruism Scale (SRA) [ 36 ], and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) [ 37 , 38 ]. These questionnaires were always administered in the same order.…”