Extension of personal future time perspective, age, and life satisfaction of children and adolescents.

Lessing, Elise E.

doi:10.1037/h0032576

Cited by 60 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Further results revealed more active students to report better self-perceived heath, greater fitness, lower levels of depression, and higher levels of LS than less active students (Piko and Keresztes 2006). Comparatively, Lessing (1972) discovered that preadolescent girls with low LS projected their fantasies significantly farther into the future than their satisfied peers, whereas adolescents with low LS tended to constrict their future outlook in comparison to their more satisfied peers.…”

Section: Goals and Motivationmentioning

confidence: 87%

Youth Life Satisfaction: A Review of the Literature

2008

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A central construct within the positive psychology literature is life satisfaction. Whereas adult life satisfaction has been studied extensively, the life satisfaction of children and adolescents has only received attention more recently. This article provides a review of the extant research on youth life satisfaction. Empirical studies (n = 141) on life satisfaction among youth are reviewed. The review details how life satisfaction among youth relates to various other important emotional, social, and behavioural constructs. Evidenced by the review are the conditions that foster positive life satisfaction and the implications of positive life satisfaction among youth. Future directions in life satisfaction research among youth are briefly discussed.Keywords Life satisfaction Á Adolescent Á Children Á Subjective well-being Á Happiness Á Review Recently the burgeoning field of positive psychology has re-illuminated the need for psychology to address areas associated with optimal functioning and happiness. From the time of Aristotle (1925), the pursuit of happiness and the achievement of the 'good life' has been a major concern among philosophers and theologians, and was included as a foundational mission of psychology (Seligman 2002b;Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi 2000). Within the field of psychology the study of 'happiness' generally falls under investigations of subjective well-being (SWB) (see Diener 1984;Diener 1994;Diener et al. 1999, for reviews). The SWB construct is a tripartite category of phenomena, which includes: emotional responses (i.e. positive affect (e.g. joy, optimism) and negative affect (e.g. sadness, anger)), domain satisfactions (e.g. work satisfaction, relationship satisfaction), and global judgements of life satisfaction (LS) (Diener et al. 1999). In the research literature the components of SWB are often used interchangeably with each other and considered synonymous with term 'happiness' (Diener 1994;Seligman 2002a); despite that the term

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Section: Goals and Motivationmentioning

confidence: 87%

Youth Life Satisfaction: A Review of the Literature

2008

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“…Time perspective has been operationalized as (a) the length of time an individual envisions their future and sets goals (Klineberg, 1968;Lessing, 1972); as (b) a motivational construct consisting of a propensity to engage in goal-setting coupled with a realistic evaluation of the required costs and time (de Volder & Lens, 1982); as (c) the degree to which an individual's future years were perceived as worthwhile, lengthy, and opportunistic (Lang & Carstensen, 2002); and (d) as the inverse of fatalism (Kalichman, Kelly, Morgan, & Rompa, 1997).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Conceptually, researchers have been inconsistent in defining time perspective. Time perspective has been operationalized as (a) the length of time an individual envisions their future and sets goals (Klineberg, 1968;Lessing, 1972); as (b) a motivational construct consisting of a propensity to engage in goal-setting coupled with a realistic evaluation of the required costs and time (de Volder & Lens, 1982); as (c) the degree to which an individual's future years were perceived as worthwhile, lengthy, and opportunistic (Lang & Carstensen, 2002); and (d) as the inverse of fatalism (Kalichman, Kelly, Morgan, & Rompa, 1997).In addition to the conceptual inconsistencies, the assessment of time perspective has been problematic as well. Initially investigators used unreliable projective measures and clinical interviews (Lessing, 1972; Teahan, 1958); more recently, investigators have relied upon a poorly validated and unpublished measure (e.g., Kalichman et al, 1997;DiIorio et al, 1993;Lang & Carstensen, 2002;Yarcheski et al, 1997).…”

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confidence: 99%

Associations Among Health Behaviors and Time Perspective in Young Adults: Model Testing with Boot-Strapping Replication

et al. 2006

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Previous research suggests that time perspective relates to health behavior; however, researchers have frequently employed inconsistent operational definitions and have often used projective or unpublished measures. The Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory was created to provide a sound, objective measure of five distinct time perspective components. We examined the independent prediction of both risky and protective health behaviors from future, hedonistic, and fatalistic time perspective in 1,568 undergraduates using the ZTPI. Health behaviors included alcohol, drug, tobacco, and seat belt use, sex behaviors, and exercise. Future time perspective was related to increased protective and decreased risky health behaviors, whereas hedonism exhibited an opposite pattern though was a stronger predictor; fatalism was related only to health-destructive behaviors. Gender interactions reveal that hedonism is a stronger predictor of risky health behaviors for females.Health behaviors contribute to half of all deaths annually (Mokdad, Marks, Stroup, & Gerberding, 2004). Health-related risk behaviors (e.g., smoking, excessive drinking) are actions that may result in immediate or long-term negative health consequences, whereas health-related protective behaviors (e.g., condom use, seat belt use) are actions that maintain or improve health status. Public health efforts to enhance population health attempt to reduce risk behaviors and to promote protective behaviors (see Healthy People 2010; USDHHS, 2000), and are considered most successful when guided by theory (Fishbein, 2000;Fishbein & Yzer, 2003).Many behavioral theories purport to explain health behavior and to facilitate risk reduction and health promotion. Theories that are purely informational provide incomplete explanations and poor prediction of existing behavior and behavior change; more sophisticated theories recognize the important role played by motivational forces (Fisher & Fisher, 1992;Miller, 1985;Prochaska, DiClemente, & Norcross, 1992). One motivational construct that shows considerable promise in predicting health-related risk and protective behaviors is time perspective.Generally, time perspective refers to the relative temporal orientation that motivates (i.e., guides and influences) an individual's typical actions and goals. Zimbardo and Boyd (1999) theorize that time perspective consists of five factors: past-positive, past-negative, presenthedonistic, present-fatalistic, and future orientation (see Boyd & Zimbardo, 2005, for a thorough discussion). In health-related research, past orientation has demonstrated little explanatory capability among young adults; consequently, the preponderance of research with this population focuses on an analysis of present and future time perspective as predictors of health behavior.Please address correspondence regarding this manuscript to: James M. Henson, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, 244C Mills Godwin Bldg., Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529-0267, Email: jhenson@odu.edu, Telephone: 757-683-5761....

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“…The LOT-R measures dispositional optimism, and there is a major body of evidence supporting its reliability and validity (see Scheier et al, 1994; see also Bryant & Cvengros, 2004). The FTPI addresses concern for and thoughts about the future, and previous research has documented extensive support for its construct validity (Lessing, 1972).…”

Section: Variables and Instrumentsmentioning

confidence: 99%