Abstract
The purpose of this article was to investigate the relationship between meaning in life and time perspective among Chinese youngsters. Two studies were conducted. In Study 1, 323 participants were sampled and completed the Presence of Meaning in life Scale, short version of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory as well as the Proactive Coping Scale. The results showed that time perspective mediated the relationship between meaning in life and proactive coping. In Study 2, 346 participants were sampled and completed the Meaningful Life Measure, the full Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory, the Reappraisal Scale as well as the General Self Efficacy Scale. The results showed that meaning in life predicted time perspective and this relationship was partially mediated by cognitive reappraisal and self-efficacy. The findings demonstrated that time perspective played a role in the self-regulatory mechanism of meaning in life, involving both emotional and motivational processes. Self-regulatory processes in the relationship between meaning in life and time perspective were discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
References
Adams, J., & Nettle, D. (2009). Time perspective, personality and smoking, body mass, and physical activity: An empirical study. British Journal of Health Psychology, 14(1), 83–105. https://doi.org/10.1348/135910708X299664
Anagnostopoulos, F., & Griva, F. (2012). Exploring time perspective in Greek young adults: Validation of the Zimbardo time perspective inventory and relationships with mental health indicators. Social Indicators Research, 106(1), 41–59. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-011-9792-y
Arbuckle, J. L. (2012). AMOS 21[Computer software]. Amos Development Corporation.
Aspinwall, L. G., & Taylor, S. E. (1997). A stitch in time: Self-regulation and proactive coping. Psychological Bulletin, 121(3), 417–436.
Bandura, A. (1993). Perceived self efficacy in cognitive and functioning. Educational Psychologist, 28(2), 117–148. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.032662799
Baumeister, R. F. (1991). Meanings of life. Guilford Press.
Baumeister, R. F., Vohs, K. D., Aaker, J. L., & Garbinsky, E. N. (2013). Some key differences between a happy life and a meaningful life. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 8(6), 505–516. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2013.830764
Beck, A. T., & Haigh, E. A. P. (2014). Advances in cognitive theory and therapy: The generic cognitive model. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 10(1), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032813-153734
Bembenutty, H., & Karabenick, S. A. (2004). Inherent association between academic delay of gratification, future time perspective, and self-regulated learning. Educational Psychology Review, 16(1), 35–57.
Blackburn, L., & Owens, G. P. (2015). The effect of self efficacy and meaning in life on posttraumatic stress disorder and depression severity among veterans. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 71(3), 219–228. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22133
Boniwell, I., & Zimbardo, P. (2004). Balancing time perspective in pursuit of optimal functioning. In P. A. Linley & S. Joseph (Eds.), Positive Psychology in Practice (pp. 165–178). Wiley.
Boyd, D., & Bee, H. (2012). Lifespan development. Pearson.
Brassai, L., Piko, B. F., & Steger, M. F. (2011). Meaning in life: Is it a protective factor for adolescents’ psychological health? International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 18(1), 44–51. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-010-9089-6
Carver, C. S., Sutton, S. K., & Scheier, M. F. (2000). Action, emotion, and personality: Emerging conceptual integration. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26(6), 741–751.
Czekierda, K., Banik, A., Park, C. L., Luszczynska, A., Czekierda, K., Banik, A., & Luszczynska, A. (2017). Meaning in life and physical health: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Health Psychology Review, 11(4), 387–418. https://doi.org/10.1080/17437199.2017.1327325
DeWitz, S. J., Woolsey, M. L., & Walsh, W. B. (2009). College student retention: An exploration of the relationship between self-efficacy beliefs and purpose in life among college students. Journal of College Student Development, 50(1), 19–34. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.0.0049
Donovan, J. J., & Hafsteinsson, L. G. (2006). The impact of goal-performance discrepancies, self-efficacy, and goal orientation on upward goal revision. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 36(4), 1046–1069. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0021-9029.2006.00054.x
Dulaney, E. S., Graupmann, V., Grant, K. E., Adam, E. K., & Chen, E. (2018). Taking on the stress-depression link: Meaning as a resource in adolescence. Journal of Adolescence. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2018.02.011
Dunkel, C. S., & Weber, J. L. (2010). Using three levels of personality to predict time perspective. Current Psychology, 29(2), 95–103. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-010-9074-x
Dwivedi, A., & Rastogi, R. (2017). Proactive coping, time perspective and life satisfaction: A study on emerging adulthood. Journal of Health Management, 19(2), 264–274. https://doi.org/10.1177/0972063417699689
Epel, E. S., Bandura, A., & Zimbardo, P. G. (1999). Escaping homelessness: The influences of self-efficacy and time perspective on coping with homelessness. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 29(3), 575–596. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.1999.tb01402.x
Gan, Y., Yang, M., Zhou, Y., & Zhang, Y. (2007). The two-factor structure of future-oriented coping and its mediating role in student engagement. Personality and Individual Differences, 43(4), 851–863. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2007.02.009
Greenglass, E. R., & Fiksenbaum, L. (2009). Proactive coping, positive affect, and well-being: Testing for mediation using path analysis. European Psychologist, 14(1), 29–39. https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040.14.1.29
Grevenstein, D., Bluemke, M., & Kroeninger-Jungaberle, H. (2016). Incremental validity of sense of coherence, neuroticism, extraversion, and general self-efficacy: Longitudinal prediction of substance use frequency and mental health. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 14(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12955-016-0412-z
Gross, J. J., & John, O. P. (2003). Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: Implications for affect, relationships, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(2), 348–362. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.85.2.348
Gutiérrez-Braojos, C. (2015). Future time orientation and learning conceptions: Effects on metacognitive strategies, self-efficacy beliefs, study effort and academic achievement. Educational Psychology, 35(2), 192–212. https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2013.858101
Haugan, G. (2013). Meaning-in-life in nursing-home patients: A valuable approach for enhancing psychological and physical well-being? Journal of Clinical Nursing, 23(13–14), 1830–1844. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.12402
Hayes, A. F. (2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. Guilford Press.
Henze, N., & Zirkler, B. (1990). A class of invariant consistent tests for multivariate normality. Communications in Statistics-Theory and Methods, 19(10), 3595–3617. https://doi.org/10.1080/03610929008830400
Hicks, J. A., & King, L. A. (2009). Positive mood and social relatedness as information about meaning in life. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 4(6), 471–482. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760903271108
Hooker, S. A., Masters, K. S., & Park, C. L. (2018). A meaningful life is a healthy life: A conceptual model linking meaning and meaning salience to health. Review of General Psychology, 22(1), 11–24. https://doi.org/10.1037/gpr0000115
Hoyt, M. A., Nelson, C. J., Darabos, K., Marín-chollom, A., & Stanton, A. L. (2017). Mechanisms of navigating goals after testicular cancer: Meaning and emotion regulation. Psycho-Oncology, 26(6), 747–754. https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.4068
Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6(1), 1–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118
Jafary, F., Farahbakhsh, K., Shafiabadi, A., & Delavar, A. (2011). Quality of life and menopause: Developing a theoretical model based on meaning in life, self-efficacy beliefs, and body image. Aging and Mental Health, 15(5), 630–637. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2010.548056
Jerusalem, M., & Schwarzer, R. (1992). Self-efficacy as a resource factor in stress appraisal process. In R. Schwarzer (Ed.), Self-efficacy: Thought control of action (pp. 195–213). Washington DC: Hemisphere.
Jim, H. S., Richardson, S. A., Golden-Kreutz, D. M., & Andersen, B. L. (2006). Strategies used in coping with a cancer diagnosis predict meaning in life for survivors. Health Psychology, 25(6), 753–761. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-6133.25.6.753
Kerpelman, J. L., & Mosher, L. S. (2004). Rural African American adolescents’ future orientation: The importance of self-efficacy, control and responsibility, and identity development. Identity, 4(2), 187–208. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532706xid0402
Kim, H. (2013). Statistical notes for clinical researchers: Assessing normal distribution (2) using skewness and kurtosis. Restorative Dentistry & Endodontics, 38(1), 52. https://doi.org/10.5395/rde.2013.38.1.52
Kline, R. B. (2011). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling (3rd ed.). Guilford Press.
Lazarus, R. S. (1993). Coping theory and research: Past, present, and future. Psychosomatic Medicine, 247, 234–247.
Lee, Y., & Oh, G. (2017). The influence of meaning of life and attribution style on academic self-efficacy of the undergraduate students. Journal of Advanced Research in Dynamical and Control Systems, 9, 557–565.
Leontiev, D. A. (2013). Personal meaning: A challenge for psychology. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 8(6), 459–470. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2013.830767
Leshkovska, E. A., & Shterjovska, M. (2014). Time perspective as predictor of meaning in Life. International Journal of Cognitive Research in Science, Engineering and Education (IJCRSEE), 2(1), 25–29.
Martela, F., & Steger, M. F. (2016). The three meanings of meaning in life: Distinguishing coherence, purpose, and significance. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 11(5), 531–545. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2015.1137623
McDonald, R. P., & Ho, M. H. R. (2002). Principles and practice in reporting structural equation analyses. Psychological Methods, 7(1), 64–82. https://doi.org/10.1037/1082-989X.7.1.64
McKnight, P. E., & Kashdan, T. B. (2009). Purpose in life as a system that creates and sustains health and well-being: An integrative, testable theory. Review of General Psychology, 13(3), 242–251. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017152
Miao, M., & Gan, Y. (2019). How does meaning in life predict proactive coping? The self-regulatory mechanism on emotion and cognition. Journal of Personality, 87(3), 579–592.
Miao, M., Zheng, L., & Gan, Y. (2017). Meaning in life promotes proactive coping via positive affect: A daily diary study. Journal of Happiness Studies, 18(6), 1683–1696. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-016-9791-4
Morgan, J., & Farsides, T. (2009). Measuring meaning in life. Journal of Happiness Studies, 10(2), 197–214. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-007-9075-0
Muraven, M., Gagné, M., & Rosman, H. (2008). Helpful self-control: Autonomy support, vitality, and depletion. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44(3), 573–585. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2007.10.008
Park, C. L. (2010). Making sense of the meaning literature: An integrative review of meaning making and its effects on adjustment to stressful life events. Psychological Bulletin, 136(2), 257–301. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018301
Park, C. L., Malone, M. R., Suresh, D. P., Bliss, D., & Rosen, R. I. (2008). Coping, meaning in life, and quality of life in congestive heart failure patients. Quality of Life Research, 17(1), 21–26. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-007-9279-0
Park, J., & Baumeister, R. F. (2017). Meaning in life and adjustment to daily stressors. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 12(4), 333–341. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2016.1209542
Phan, H. P. (2009). Amalgamation of future time orientation, epistemological beliefs, achievement goals and study strategies: Empirical evidence established. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 79(1), 155–173. https://doi.org/10.1348/000709908X306864
Przepiorka, A., Siu, N. Y., Szcześniak, M., Timoszyk-Tomczak, C., Le, J. J., & Muñoz, M. P. (2020). The relation between personality, time perspective and positive orientation in Chile, Hong Kong, and Poland. Journal of Happiness Studies, 21(3), 1081–1101. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-019-00113-x
Schreiber, J. B., Stage, F. K., King, J., Nora, A., & Barlow, E. A. (2006). Modeling and confirmatory factor analysis results: A review. The Journal of Educational Research, 99(6), 323–337.
Schwarzer, R., & Taubert, S. (2002). Tenacious goal pursuits and striving toward personal growth: Proactive coping. In E. Fydenberg (Ed.), Beyond coping: Meeting goals, visions and challenges (pp. 19–36). London: Oxford University Press.
Shipp, A. J., Edwards, J. R., Schurer, L., & Emerson, R. W. (2009). Conceptualization and measurement of temporal focus: The subjective experience of the past, present, and future. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 110(1), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2009.05.001
Simon, C. R., & Durand-Bush, N. (2015). Does self-regulation capacity predict psychological well-being in physicians? Psychology, Health and Medicine, 20(3), 311–321. https://doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2014.936887
Smith, B. W., Tooley, E. M., Montague, E. Q., Robinson, A. E., Cosper, C. J., & Mullins, P. G. (2009). The role of resilience and purpose in Life in habituation to heat and cold pain. Journal of Pain, 10(5), 493–500. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2008.11.007
Sobol-Kwapinska, M. (2009). Forms of present time orientation and satisfaction with life in the context of attitudes toward past and future. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 37(4), 433–440. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2009.37.4.433
Steger, M. F., Bundick, M. J., & Yeager, D. (2012). Meaning in life. In R. J. R. Levesque (Ed.), Encyclopedia of adolescence (pp. 1666–1677). Springer.
Steger, M. F., Frazier, P., Oishi, S., & Kaler, M. (2006). The Meaning in Life Questionnaire: Assessing the presence of and search for meaning in life. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 53(1), 80–93. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.53.1.80
Steger, M. F., Kashdan, T. B., Sullivan, B. A., & Lorentz, D. (2008). Understanding the search for meaning in life: Personality, cognitive style, and the dynamic between seeking and experiencing meaning. Journal of Personality, 76(2), 199–228. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2007.00484.x
Stolarski, M., Bitner, J., & Zimbardo, P. G. (2011). Time perspective, emotional intelligence and discounting of delayed awards. Time & Society, 20(3), 346–363. https://doi.org/10.1177/0961463X11414296
Strack, F., Schwarz, N., & Gschneidinger, E. (1985). Happiness and reminiscing: The role of time perspective, affect, and mode of thinking. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49(6), 1460–1469. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.49.6.1460
Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2013). Using multivariate stastics (6th ed.). Pearson.
Taber, B. J. (2013). Time perspective and career decision-making difficulties in adults. Journal of Career Assessment, 21(2), 200–209. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072712466722
Taylor, S. E. (1983). Adjustment to threatening events. American Psychologist, 38(11), 1161–1173. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.38.11.1161
Wang, C., Hu, Z., & Liu, Y. (2001). Evidences for reliability and validity of the Chinese version of General Self-Efficacy Scale. Chinese Journal of Applied Psychology, 7(1), 37–40.
Wang, L., Liu, H., Li, Z., & Du, W. (2007). Reliability and validity of Emotion Regulation Questionnaire Chinese revised version. China Journal of Health Psychology, 15(6), 503–505.
Wang, X. (2013). Psychometric evaluation of the Meaning in Life Questionnaire in Chinese middle school students. Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology, 21(5), 764–767.
Wang, Y., Chen, X. J., Cui, J. F., & Liu, L. L. (2015). Testing the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory in the Chinese context. PsyCh Journal, 4(3), 166–175. https://doi.org/10.1002/pchj.103
Yalçın, İ, & Malkoç, A. (2015). The relationship between meaning in life and subjective well-being: Forgiveness and hope as mediators. Journal of Happiness Studies, 16(4), 915–929. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-014-9540-5
Zambianchi, M., & Ricci Bitti, P. E. (2014). The role of proactive coping strategies, time perspective, perceived efficacy on affect regulation, divergent thinking and family communication in promoting social well-being in emerging adulthood. Social Indicators Research, 116(2), 493–507. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-013-0307-x
Zebardast, A., Besharat, M. A., & Hghighatgoo, M. (2011). The relationship between self-efficacy and time perspective in students. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 30, 935–938. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.10.181
Zhang, J. W., Howell, R. T., & Bowerman, T. (2013). Validating a brief measure of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory. Time & Society, 22(3), 391–409. https://doi.org/10.1177/0961463X12441174
Zimbardo, P. G., & Boyd, J. N. (1999). Putting time in perspective: A valid, reliable individual-differences metric. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(6), 1271–1288. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.77.6.1271
Zimbardo, P. G., & Boyd, J. N. (2008). The time paradox: The new psychology of time that will change your life. Free Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.
Ethical Approval
The project was submitted to the Ethics Committee at Wuhan University, and the approval was officially provided.
Informed Consent
Informed consent in written form was obtained from all participants included in the study and parents or other legally authorized representatives of the minor participants.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Xiaobing Zheng and Wenjing Wang: Department of Psychology, School of Philosophy, Wuhan University. They are also in Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zheng, X., Wang, W. Time Perspective in the Self-regulatory Mechanism of Meaning in Life. J Happiness Stud 23, 747–767 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-021-00424-y
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-021-00424-y
Keywords
- Meaning in life
- Time perspective
- Emotion
- Motivation
- Self-regulation