Time perspective as predictor of perceived stress in managers

The aim of this study was to determine relation between dimensions of time perspective and perceived stress among managers, who have one to three years of working experience as managers. The basic assumption was that dimensions of time perspective are empirically confirmed correlates of numerous psychic functions, thus they can also be correlates of perceived stress. Therefore, we set hypothesis that dimensions of time perspective are significant predictors of perceived stress in managers. The study was conducted on the sample of 92 managers of both genders (37% of men and 63% of women). Average age of examinees was 36.58 years. Selective variable for formation of the sample was the length of working experience in management - from minimum one up to maximum three years. The assumption for the sample justification was that managers-beginners experience bigger number of stimuli from the environment as stressors. An adapted version of Zimbardo's time perspective questionnaire (ZTPI, Zimbardo & Boyd, 1999, adaptation of Kostić & Nedeljković, 2013) was used to operationalize the time perspective. The questionnaire with 52 items determines five dimensions of time perspective - negative and positivie past, hedonistic and fatalistic present and future. Perceived stress is determined by score on Cohen's questionnaire for perceived stress (The Perceived Stress Scale, PSS-10, Cohen et al, 1983). Significant regression model was obtained, which explains 17,6% variance in perception of stress in managers. As the only independently significant predictor in the group of dimensions of time perspective, future was highlighted (b = 0,416). Managers who are turned towards the future have higher scores of the perceived stress. The results confirmed the initial assumption on predictor power of dimensions of time perspective in predicting intensity of the perceived stress. The results represent contribution to understanding the relationship between dimensions of time perspective and stress perception during the first years of management and may be the starting point for future research of those constructs.