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Time Perspectives and Subjective Wellbeing in Chile

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Abstract

The present article aims to provide evidence to advance in the comprehension of the multiple relationships between temporality and wellbeing by exploring the relationship between time perspectives and subjective wellbeing in Chile. In so doing, it presents a critical stand of the current operationalisations of the ‘balanced time perspective’ (BTP). This article supports the theoretical premise that individuals’ time perspectives possess a contextual nature and that the BTP is socially relative. As a result, the article proposes a novel method to define and operationalise BTP. Using data from the United Nations Development Programme’s 2011 Human Development Survey for Chile (N = 2,535), an empirical analysis is carried out on the relationship between time perspectives and vital satisfaction, positive affects, negative affects and depressive symptomatology scales. The results show that in Chile a negative orientation towards the past exerts the most significant effect on subjective wellbeing and malaise, and the time perspective which most favours subjective wellbeing in Chilean society is that in which there is a low orientation towards Present and Past-Negative, a high orientation towards Past-Positive, and a medium orientation towards Future. This relationship between time perspectives and subjective wellbeing constitutes an advance in the study of the subjective dimension of temporality in Chile, and contributes to the theoretical and methodological discussions on time perspectives on an international level.

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Notes

  1. This study is part of a 3-year research (2011–2013) supported by The National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development in Chile. The main aim of this research was to analyze the temporal structures of the biographies and everyday lives on individuals in Chile. This research carried out an initial exploratory study of the time perspectives of individuals in Chile using a summarized version of the original ZTPI. The results show that model of time perspective for Chilean society is based on four components: Present, Past-Negative, Future and Past-Positive that are associated with socio-demographic and cultural variables.

  2. The database is public and is available at: http://www.desarrollohumano.cl/base-datos/base-datos.htm.

  3. These letters represent the different status levels of the socioeconomic classification system used in Chile. The system is based on two criteria: educational level and type of occupation of the head of household. When any of that information is missing, the classification is based on the possession of some relevant goods. It should be interpreted as follows: ABC1 = upper class; C2 = upper-middle class; C3 = middle class; D = lower-middle class; E = lower class.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico (Fondecyt) Chile grant No. 1110402.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Investigaciones Socioculturales (CISOC), Universidad Alberto Hurtado, Cienfuegos 25A, Santiago, Chile

    Pedro Güell & Martina Yopo

  2. School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Nottingham, Room A113, Law and Social Sciences Building, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK

    Macarena Orchard

  3. Centre de Recherche Médecine, Sciences, Santé, Santé Mentale, Société (CERMES3), Université Paris 5 Descartes, Sorbonne Paris-Cité, CNRS, EHESS, INSERM, 45 rue de Saint-Pères, 75270, Paris Cedex 06, France

    Álvaro Jiménez-Molina

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  1. Pedro Güell
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Correspondence to Pedro Güell.

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Güell, P., Orchard, M., Yopo, M. et al. Time Perspectives and Subjective Wellbeing in Chile. Soc Indic Res 123, 127–141 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-014-0727-2

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