A positive focus on the present, the only time zone which we experience directly and permanently, is at least as relevant as perspectives on the past and future in a balanced time perspective and its relation to wellbeing. Yet, few instruments examining a positive present time perspective exist. Two present-directed concepts, mindfulness and flow, that are intrinsically linked to mental wellbeing were analyzed and used to formulate a present-eudaimonic scale that complements the past and future scales of the balanced time perspective scale. The present study addresses the psychometric properties of the present-eudaimonic scale and the modified balanced time perspective scale.
Method
131 participants filled out the present-eudaimonic scale, the balanced time perspective scale, the Zimbardo time perspective inventory, the five facet mindfulness questionnaire – short form, the Swedish flow proneness questionnaire and the mental health continuum – short form. Balanced time perspective was operationalized using the deviation from a balanced time perspective coefficient.
Results
The present-eudaimonic scale showed good psychometric properties including internal consistency, factor structure, and convergent validity. The present-eudaimonic scale explained an additional eleven percent of variance in mental health beyond the other time perspective scales. Balanced time perspective as measured with the modified balanced time perspective scale correlated significantly stronger with mental health than balanced time perspective measured with the Zimbardo time perspective inventory.
Conclusions
The present-eudaimonic scale fills a gap in the assessment of time perspective and the modified balanced time perspective scale is a promising way to study balanced time perspective.
AsakawaK (2010) Flow experience, culture, and well-being: How do autotelic Japanese college students feel, behave, and think in their daily lives?Journal of Happiness Studies11: 205–223.
2.
BaerRA (2009) Self-focused attention and mechanisms of change in mindfulness-based treatment. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy38: 15–20.
3.
BaerRASmithGTHopkinsJ (2006) Using self-report assessment methods to explore facets of mindfulness. Assessment13(1): 27–45.
4.
BassiMStecaPMonzaniD (2014) Personality and optimal experience in adolescence: Implications for well-being and development. Journal of Happiness Studies15: 829–843.
5.
BishopSRLauMShapiroSL (2004) Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice11(3): 230–241.
6.
BohlmeijerETTen KloosterPMFledderusM (2011) Psychometric properties of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire in depressed adults and development of a short form. Assessment8(3): 308–320.
7.
BoniwellIOsinELinleyPA (2010) A question of balance: Time perspective and well-being in British and Russian samples. The Journal of Positive Psychology5(1): 24–40.
8.
BoniwellIZimbardoPG (2003) Time to find the right balance. The Psychologist16: 129–131.
9.
BoniwellIZimbardoPG (2004) Balancing one’s time perspective in pursuit of optimal functioning. In: LinleyPAJosephS (eds) Positive Psychology in Practice, New Jersey: Wiley, pp. 165–178.
10.
BrownKWRyanRM (2003) The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology84(4): 822–848.
11.
ChiesaACalatiRSerrettiA (2011) Does mindfulness training improve cognitive abilities? A systematic review of neuropsychological findings. Clinical Psychology Review31: 449–464.
12.
CrowneDPMarloweD (1960) A new scale of social desirability independent of psychopathology. Journal of Consulting Psychology24(4): 349–354.
13.
CsikszentmihalyiM (1975) Beyond Boredom and Anxiety, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
14.
CsikszentmihalyiM (1990) Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, New York: Harper & Row.
15.
DeciELRyanRM (2008) Hedonia, eudaimonia, and well-being: An introduction. Journal of Happiness Studies9: 1–11.
16.
Delle Fave A and Soosai-Nathan L (2014) Meaning as inter-connectedness: Theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence. Journal of Psychology in Africa 24(1): 33–43.
17.
DiessnerRSolomRDFrostNK (2008) Engagement with beauty: Appreciating natural, artistic, and moral beauty. The Journal of Psychology142: 303–332.
18.
DrakeLDuncanESutherlandF (2008) Time perspective and correlates of wellbeing. Time & Society17(1): 47–61.
19.
EinsteinABessoMA (1972) Albert Einstein – Michelle Besso Correspondence 1903–1955, Paris: Hermann.
20.
FieulaineNMartinezF (2011) About the fuels of self-regulation: Time perspective and desire for control in adolescents substance use. In: BarkoukisV (ed) Psychology of Self-Regulation, New York: Nova Science Publishers.
21.
FledderusMBohlmeijerETSmitF (2010) Mental health promotion as a new goal in public mental health care: A randomized controlled trial of an intervention enhancing psychological flexibility. American Journal of Public Health100(12): 2372.
22.
HakTVan Der VeerKJansenH (2008) The Three-Step Test-Interview (TSTI): An observation-based method for pretesting self-completion questionnaires. Survey Research Methods2(3): 143–150.
23.
HanhTN (1976) The Miracle of Mindfulness: A Manual for Meditation, Boston: Beacon.
HanhTN (1998) Schritte der Achtsamkeit. Eine Reise an den Ursprung des Buddhismus, Freiburg: Herder.
26.
Huta V and Waterman AS (2013) Eudaimonia and its distinction from Hedonia: Developing a classification and terminology for understanding conceptual and operational definitions. Journal of Happiness Studies 15: 1425–1456.
27.
JoiremanJALasaneTPBennetJ (2001) Integrating social value orientation and the consideration of future consequences within the extended norm activation model of proenvironmental behavior. British Journal of Social Psychology40: 133–155.
28.
JoiremanJAShafferMJBallietD (2012) Promotion orientation explains why future-oriented people exercise and eat healthy: Evidence from two-factor consideration of future consequences-14 scale. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin38(10): 1272–1287.
29.
Kabat-ZinnJ (1982) An outpatient program in behavioral medicine for chronic pain patients based on the practice of mindfulness meditation: Theoretical considerations and preliminary results. General Hospital Psychiatry4(1): 33–47.
30.
KangYGruberJGrayJR (2013) Mindfulness and de-automatization. Emotion Review5(2): 192–201.
31.
KantI (1781/1986) Kritik der Reinen Vernunft, Ditzingen: Reclam-Verlag.
32.
KaufmanKAGlassCRArnkoffDB (2009) Evaluation of mindful sport performance enhancement (MSPE): A new approach to promote flow in athletes. Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology3(4): 334–356.
33.
KeeYHWangCKJ (2008) Relationships between mindfulness, flow-dispositions and mental skills adoption: A cluster analytic approach. Psychology of Sport and Exercise9(4): 393–411.
34.
KengSLSmoskiMJRobinsCJ (2011) Effects of mindfulness on psychological health: A review of empirical studies. Clinical Psychology Review31(6): 1041–1056.
35.
KeyesCLMWissingMPotgieterJP (2008) Evaluation of the Mental Health Continuum Short Form (MHC-SF) in Setswana speaking South Africans. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy15: 181–192.
36.
KeoughKAZimbardoPGBoydJN (1999) Who’s smoking, drinking, and using drugs? Time perspective as a predictor of substance use. Basic and Applied Social Psychology21(2): 149–164.
37.
LaghiFBaioccoRLigaF (2013) Identity status differences among Italian adolescents: Associations with Time perspective. Children and Youth Service Review35: 482–487.
38.
LamersSMAWesterhofGJBohlmeijerET (2010) Evaluating the psychometric properties of the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF). Journal of Clinical Psychology67(1): 99–110.
39.
LuyckxKLensWSmitsI (2010) Time perspective and identity formation: Short-term longitudinal dynamics in college students. International Journal of Behavioral Development34: 238–247.
40.
MayerFSFrantzCM (2004) The connectedness to nature scale: A measure of individuals’ feeling in community with nature. Journal of Environmental Psychology24: 503–515.
41.
Milfont TL, Wilson J and Diniz PKC (2012) Time perspective and environmental engagement: A meta-analysis. International Journal of Psychology 47(5): 325–334.
42.
MischelWShodaYRodriguezML (1989) Delay of gratification in children. Science24(4): 933–938.
43.
NewtonI (1687/2013) Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, Charleston: Nabu Press.
44.
PetersBRJoiremanJARidgwayRL (2005) Individual differences in the consideration of future consequences scale correlate with sleep habits, sleep quality, and GPA in university students. Psychological Reports96(3): 817–824.
45.
ReynoldsWM (1982) Development of reliable and valid short forms of the Marlowe-Crowne social desirability scale. Journal of Clinical Psychology38(1): 119–125.
46.
RosaH (2012) Weltbeziehungen im Zeitalter der Beschleunigung - Umrisse einer neuen Gesellschaftskritik. Berlin: Suhrkamp.
47.
RyanRMDeciEL (2001) On happiness and human potentials: A review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Annual Review of Psychology52: 141–166.
48.
RyanRMHutaVDeciEL (2008) Living well: A self-determination theory on eudaimonia. Journal of Happiness Studies9: 139–170.
49.
SeligmanMEPCsikszentmihalyiM (2000) Positive psychology: An introduction. American Psychologist55: 5–14.
50.
SeemaRSircovaA (2013) Mindfulness a time perspective? Estonian study. Baltic Journal of Psychology14(1,2): 4–21.
51.
Sheldon KM and Vansteenkiste M (2005) Personal goals and time travel: How are future places visited, and is it worth it? In: Strathman A and Joireman J (eds) Understanding Behaviour in the Context of Time: Theory, Research and Application. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pp.143–163.
52.
SircovaAvan de VijverFJROsinE (2014) A global look at time: A 24-country study of the equivalence of the Zimbardo Time perspective Inventory. Sage Open4(1): DOI: 10.1177/2158244013515686.
53.
Sobol-KwapinskaM (2009) Forms of present time orientation and satisfaction with life in the context of attitudes toward past and future. Social Behavior and Personality37(4): 433–440.
54.
Sobol-KwapinskaM (2013) Hedonism, fatalism and ‘carpe diem’: Profiles of attitudes towards the present time. Time & Society22(3): 371–390.
55.
SteeleJPFullagarCJ (2009) Facilitators and outcomes of student engagement in a college setting. The Journal of Psychology143(1): 5–27.
56.
StolarskiMBitnerJZimbardoPG (2011) Time perspective, emotional intelligence and discounting of delayed awards. Time & Society20(3): 346–363.
57.
Stolarski M, Fieulaine N and van Beek W (eds) (2015) Time Perspective Theory; Review, Research and Application. Essays in Honor of Philip G. Zimbardo. Berlin: Springer Science+Business Media.
58.
StolarskiMMatthewsGPostekS (2014) How we feel is a matter of time: Relationships between time perspectives and mood. Journal of Happiness Studies15: 809–827.
59.
StrathmanAGleicherFBoningerDS (1994) The consideration of future consequences: Weighing immediate and distant outcomes of behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology66: 742–752.
60.
UllénFDe ManzanoÖAlmeidaR (2011) Proneness for psychological flow in everyday life: Associations with personality and intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences52: 167–172.
61.
Van BeekWBerghuisHKerkhofA (2011) Time perspective, personality, and psychopathology: Zimbardo’s time perspective inventory in psychiatry. Time & Society20(3): 364–374.
62.
WatermanAS (1990) The relevance of Aristotle’s conception of eudaimonia for the psychological study of happiness. Theoretical & Philosophical Psychology10(1): 39–44.
63.
WatermanAS (1993) Two conceptions of happiness: Contrasts of personal expressiveness (eudaemonia) and hedonic enjoyment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology64: 678–691.
64.
WebsterJD (2011) A new measure of time perspective: Initial psychometric findings for the Balanced Time Perspective Scale (BTPS). Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science/Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement43(2): 111–118.
65.
WebsterJDBohlmeijerETWesterhofGJ (2014) Time to flourish: The relationship of temporal perspective to well-being and wisdom across adulthood. Aging & Mental Health18(8): 1046–1056.
66.
WebsterJDMaX (2013) A balanced time perspective in adulthood: Well-being and developmental effects. Canadian Journal on Aging32(4): 433–442.
67.
ZhangJWHowellRT (2011) Do time perspectives predict unique variance in life satisfaction beyond personality traits?Personality and Individual Differences50: 1261–1266.
68.
ZhangJWHowellRTBowermanT (2013b) Validating a brief measure of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory. Time & Society22(3): 391–409.
69.
ZhangJWHowellRTStolarskiM (2013a) Comparing three methods to measure a balanced time perspective: The relationship between a balanced time perspective and subjective well-being. Journal of Happiness Studies14: 169–184.
70.
ZimbardoPG (2002) Just think about it: Time to take our time. Psychology Today35: 62.
71.
ZimbardoPGBoydJN (1999) Putting time in perspective: A valid, reliable individual difference metric. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology77(6): 1271–1288.
72.
ZimbardoPGBoydJN (2008) The Time Paradox: The New Psychology of Time That Will Change Your Life, New York: Free Press.
