A SENSE OF ADULTHOOD OF YOUNG ADULTS AND THEIR LIFE SATISFACTION Mediation Role of Time Perspective Anna Paszkowska-Rogacz International conference Life Designing and Career Counseling: Building Hope and Resilience June 20-21-22, 2013, Padova-Italy
A SENSE OF ADULTHOOD OF YOUNG
ADULTS AND THEIR LIFE SATISFACTION
Mediation Role of Time Perspective
Anna Paszkowska-Rogacz
International conference
Life Designing and Career Counseling: Building Hope and Resilience
June 20-21-22, 2013, Padova-Italy
Examples of time perspective in philosophy and
literature - praise of the present
Søren Kierkegaard,
The Diary, 1854
"Who is running in the future is a coward, who in the past - a hedonist, and only the one who clings to the present, who wants to repeat it, this is a real human being"
Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist ,
1988
„Because I do not live neither in the past nor in the future. For me only today exists and I do not care anything else. If ever
you manage to persist in the present, you will be a happy person”
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Temporal orientation (time perception)
Lewin (1951) - an individual’s behaviour does not rely completely on the present situation but rather also upon hopes in the future as well as views on the past
Nuttin (1985) – subject preferred thoughts and actions directed at one of the three dimensions of time: past, present and future
Block (1990) – time-space of an individual consists of subject concepts relating to past, present and future
Suddendorf & Corbalis (1997) - mental time travel to the past and to the future is a uniquely human characteristic
Nosal and Bajcar (2004) – expresses not only an individual involvement and focus on the past, present or future, but also indicates a range and organisation of the subject activty
Passive aspect – time passing feeling
Active aspect – influence on behaviour
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Time perspective - Zimbardo and Boyd, 1999,
2005)
Often non-conscious process whereby the continual flows of
personal and social experiences are assigned to temporal
categories, or time frames, that help to give order, coherence,
and meaning to those events - six time perspectives:
Past-negative and past-positive
Present-fatalistic and present-hedonistic
Future
People may develop a temporal bias in which temporal zone
is habitually emphasized in life satisfaction
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Time is a key element of the formulation of objectives, including of career planning, especially future orientation:
Crites (1965), Savickas (2002), Super (1974) – role of the future time perspective in achieving goals
Savickas, Silling & Schwartz (1984) , Marko & Savickas (1998), Janeiro (2010) - future time perspective , career maturity, and career planning
Lenning (1995) - future orientation predicted career maturity when controlling locus of control and self-efficacy
Ferrari, Nota & Soresi (2010) - future orientation – less indecisiveness and higher school achievement
Paszkowska-Rogacz (2012):
Career readiness of high-school youths and their temporal orientation (2012)
The study revealed that time perspectives strongly inhibiting career readiness are:
Past-negative
Present-fatalist
Time perspective in career planning
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Conclusions from the studies
Quoted studies indicate that temporal orientation is a factor
forming relationships with many variables and, therefore,
it seems to be crucial for understanding personal behaviour,
integrity and also career maturity.
Even though past, present, and future temporal zones exert
a good deal on a variety behaviors and psychological
processes, vocational psychology has focused primarily
on future time perspective in relation to understanding
the career decision-making process.
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What is the range and the direction of relationships between two dimension of the sense of adulthood (the sense adulthood as a task and as a limit) and the life satisfaction of young adults?
How the various temporal orientations mediate these relationships?
Research motivations
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Who are the YOUNG ADULTS?
The group between 20 – 35 (Brzezińska, 2008; Harwas-
Napierała & Trempała 2010) or 25-45 (Super, 1994)
Developmental tasks (Erikson, 1968, Havinghurts, 1953,
Levinson 1986 , Newman & Newman 1984 , White, 1975):
Choosing a partner and co-existence learning together
Having a family and raising children
House keeping
Start of working life
Acceptance of civic responsibility
Finding a related social group
Focus on the future
Determining the level of aspiration
Setting life objectives
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The sens of adulthood as a psychological
dimension
Early adulthood in terms of tasks and limits (Super,
1984, 1994; Carver, Sutton & Scheier, 2000):
willingness to undertake and carry out the life tasks
sense of finding one's place in the adult world
crystallization of his/her own identity
distance from the family of the origin home
loss of contacts with peers
less time for hobbies
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Life satisfaction
The sense of satisfaction with achievements and living
conditions
There is a positive relationship between the level of
satisfaction with life, and:
self-esteem (Diener, 1985, Rosenberg, 1989)
dispositional optimism, perception of stress, controlling anger (Cohen,
Kamarck, Mermelstein, 1983)
early adulthood (Diener, 1985; Heckhausen, 1999, Oleś, 2011)
There is a negative relationship between the level of
satisfaction with life, and:
neuroticism and emotionality (Diener, 1985)
the experience of time (Kowalik, 1994; Zielinska, 2002)
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The hipothesis (1, 2)
1. Sense of adulthood:
as a limit will be significantly related to negative time perspectives
(past-negative and present-fatalistic)
as a task will be significantly related to positive time perspectives
(past-positive, present-hedonistic, and future)
2. There will be a significant correlation between sense of
adulthood:
as a task and satisfaction of life - positive
as limit and satisfaction of life - negative
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The hipothesis (3)
3. Time perspectives will mediate the relation between
sense of adulthood dimensions and satisfaction with
life:
when sense of adulthood as a limit increases:
negative time perspectives will also increase and increased negative
time perspective will be associated with lower satisfaction with life
positive time perspectives will decrease and decreased positive time
perspectives will be associated with lower satisfaction with life
when sense of adulthood as a task increases:
negative time perspectives will decrease and decreased negative
time perspective will be associated with higher satisfaction with life
positive time perspectives will increase and increased negative time
perspective will be associated with higher satisfaction with life
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The mediation model. Time perspectives mediate the relation between sense of adulthood and satisfaction with life .
X independent variables; W mediating variables; Y dependent variable.
Time perspectives (W)
Satisfaction with Life (Y)
Sens of Adulthood (X)
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Participants
208 individuals – 154 female and 54 male
Age: between 19 and 35 years (M = 23,45; SD = 3,17)
Education: MA – 122 (58, 7%), BA – 34 (16,3%), High
school– 49 (23,6%), Vocational – 3 (1,4%)
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Measures Dimensions No of
items
Cronbach's
alpha
coefficient
The Satisfaction with Life Scale – SWLS
(Diener, Emmons, Larson &Griffin, 1985;
Polish version - Juczyński, 2009)
5 .81
Sens of Adulthood Scale (Zagórska, 2004)
E.g.
• I feel fully prepared to work (task)
• Some of the possible ways of life are already
closed to me (limit)
as a task 10 .83
as a limit 6 .68
Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI)
(Zimbardo, Boyd, 1999, Polish version –
Marszał-Wiśniewska, 2012)
Past-negative 10 .82
Past-positive 9 .80
Present-hedonistic 15 .79
Present-fatalistic 9 .74
Future 13 .77
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Preliminary analyses - descriptive statistics
M SD
The Sens of Adulthood
Scale
as a limit (AL) 43.29 15.11
as a task (AP) 60.01 16.46
Zimbardo
Time Perspective Inventory
(ZTPI)
Past-negative (PN) 27.76 5.56
Present-hedonistic (PH) 47.69 6.70
Future (F) 42.90 5.96
Past-positive (PP) 25.37 3.72
Present-fatalistic (PF) 22.16 4.51
Satisfaction with Life Scale
(SWLS) 20.64 5.77
Note: All distributions are normal.
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Corelation matrix of variables used in the
mediation model
SWSL AT AL PN PP PH PF F
Satisfaction With Life Scale
(SWLS)
1
Adulthood as a task (AT) .382** 1
Adulthood as a limit (AL) -.353** .048 1
Past-negative (PN) -.447** -.314** .202** 1
Past-positive (PP) .302** .030 -.348** -.255 1
Present-hedonistic (PH) -.014 -.265** -.025 .070 .100 1
Present-fatalistic (PF) -.303** -.356** .117 .354** -.089 .340** 1
Future (F) .151* .316** -.149* .001 .005 -.304** -.325** 1
* p < .05. ** p < .01.
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Mediation analysis
Baron and Kenny’s (1986) causal steps approach
- 10 regression models were estimated:
1. Sense of adulthood as a limit and five time perspectives , and
their interaction were included as potential predictors of the
dependent variable satisfaction of life.
2. Sense of adulthood as a task and five time perspectives and
their interaction were included as potential predictors of the
dependent variable satisfaction of life.
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Results
The necessary relations for mediation were present for:
1. Past-negative and past-positive time perspectives as
mediators, when controlling sense of adulthood as a limit
the negative relationship between sense of adulthood as a limit and life
satisfactions will be stronger when past-negative time perspective is high
and when past-positive perspective is low
2. Past-negative and present-fatalistic time perspective as
mediators, when controlling sense of adulthood as a task
the positive relationship between sense of adulthood as a task and
satisfaction with life will be stronger when both negative time
perspectives are low
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Path coefficients for simple mediation analysis on satisfaction
with life (N = 205).
Past-negative time perspective
Satisfaction with Life
Sense of Adulthood as a limit
Note: Dotted line denotes the effect of sense of adulthood as a limit when past-negative time
perspective is not included as a mediator; β are standardized regression coefficients
**p < .01; ***p < .001; Sobel Z = -2.74, p = .006.
β = .19** β = -.40***
β = -.36***
β = -.28***
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Path coefficients for simple mediation analysis on satisfaction
with life (N = 205).
Past-positive time perspective
Satisfaction with Life
Sense of Adulthood as a limit
Note: Dotted line denotes the effect of sense of adulthood as a limit when past-positive time
perspective is not included as a mediator; β are standardized regression coefficients
_ **p < .01; ***p < .001; Sobel Z = -2.59, p = .01
β = -.32*** β = .22**
β = -.29***
β = -.36***
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Path coefficients for simple mediation analysis on satisfaction
with life (N = 205).
Past-negative time perspective
Satisfaction with Life
Sense of adulthood as a task
Note: Dotted line denotes the effect of sense of adulthood as a task when past-negative time
perspective is not included as a mediator; β are standardized regression coefficients
_ **p < .01; ***p < .001; Sobel Z = -3.85, p = .0001
β = -.30*** β = -.38***
β = -.38***
β = -.26***
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Path coefficients for simple mediation analysis on satisfaction
with life (N = 205).
Present-fatalistic time perspective
Satisfaction with Life
Sense of Adulthood as a task
Note: Dotted line denotes the effect of sense of adulthood as a task when present-fatalistic time
perspective is not included as a mediator; β are standardized regression coefficients
_ **p < .01; ***p < .001; Sobel Z = 2.56, p = .01
β = -.35*** β = -.20***
β = .38***
β = .31***
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Discussion (1)
The study revealed that:
Two types of the sense of the adulthood significantly predicted
satisfaction with life – sense of adulthood as a limit – negatively
and sense of adulthood as a task – positively
Of particular importance seems to be a sense of adulthood impact
on the past time perspectives - the past time is the perspective in which
the prototypes of cognitive and social functioning are shaping:
On the one hand, an individual observes and reproduces patterns
of action, solving a variety of problems, on the other hand the positive
and negative patterns of social and moral. The perception of the past
is therefore the result of adulthood.
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Discussion (2)
Evaluation of relationships between sense of adulthood and temporal
perspectives revealed various associations:
Sense of adulthood as a limit with past-negative and inversely with
past-positive time perspective
Sense of adulthood as a task with present-fatalistic and inversely with
past-negative time perspective
This is consistent with the results of the previous research (Diener, 1985;
Heckhausen, 1999, Oleś, 2011), and the relationship is inversely proportional -
the greater is the bias toward task, the lower the fatalistic attitude toward the
present. Mature interpretation own resourcefulness in meeting the tasks of
adulthood, has a significant impact on the perception of the present. They are
considered the most beneficial in functioning of an individual and realisation of
life-related tasks. However, these relationship are not as strong as one could
expect, based on research by Zimbardo and Boyd (1999)
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Discussion (3)
The time perspectives strongly inhibiting satisfaction with life
were:
Past-negative
Present-fatalist
According to Zimbardo and Boyd (2009), such individuals are not
scrupulous and not interested in their future. They do not seek
challenges because they poses neither the sense of personal
agency nor the ability to predict outcomes of their actions, they
believe in determinism.
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Limitation of the research
time perspective was assumed like to be a trait not
a process which actually is
one nation participants, which limits the
generalizability of the results
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Future research
The answer to the question, why the future time perspective is
insignificant as mediator
Analysis of relationships between variables in data sets by
structural equations modeling or canonical analysis –
examination how a balanced time perspective is associated
with life satisfaction
Inclusion of demographic variables as moderators in the
model
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