Future time perspective: Factor structure, age pattern, and implications for psychological well-being and life satisfaction

Objective

Emerging research challenges the one-factor model of the future time perspective (FTP) scale by demonstrating two- and three-factor models of the FTP scale.

Method

Three samples (i.e., Switzerland and the United States; N = 2022) explored the factor structure, age pattern differences, tested the link between FTP factors, psychological well-being, and life satisfaction, as well as age as a moderator.

Results

We distinguished FTP into opportunities, extension, and constraint factors that corroborated previous research. We did not find a replicable curvilinear age pattern difference on any of the FTP factors. The association between extension and life satisfaction was stronger among younger than older adults. Alternatively, the association between constraint and life satisfaction was stronger among younger than older adults in Samples A and C, and the pattern was reversed in Sample B. Lastly, the association between constraint and environmental mastery was stronger among older adults than younger adults in Sample B and the pattern was reversed in Sample C.

Conclusion

This variation in the perception of the future is different for people at different periods in life and has an important consequence for living life well, especially a focus on extension and lack of constraint.