From the perception to the uses of time: Time perspective and procrastination among adults in Spain

Nuria Codina Mata
Rafael Valenzuela García
José Vicente Pestana Montesinos

Abstract

The behavioural sciences have investigated the relationship between time domain or control and human development from a variety of perspectives, in recent decades, outlining two attitudinal manifestations that are deeply involved in such development: time orientations and procrastination. There is abundant literature regarding these concepts, but few works provide data about the relationship between these attitudes and aspects of everyday life, data that might identify options to regulate such attitudes. This paper analyses time perspective and procrastination with regards to age, temporal characteristics of work, and living arrangements. 720 adults (390 men and 330 women) aged between 18 and 64 years (M = 40.44; SD = 9.80) participated. The instruments used were an ad hoc questionnaire on sociodemographic data, and two scales validated for the Spanish population: the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory and a procrastination instrument that combines the General Procrastination Scale, the Decisional Procrastination Questionnaire, and the Adult Inventory of Procrastination. The results show an unbalanced general perspective in the sample as a whole, with significant relationships by age, living arrangements (e.g., more negative past — d = .33 — and hedonistic present — d = .30 — among respondents who live with their parents) and temporal characteristics of work (e.g., more fatalistic present in respondents with rigid schedules — d = .53). Procrastination is more present in young people aged between 18 and 29 (in the dilatory behaviour — d = .63 — and lack of punctuality — d = .69 — factors). Also, several of these factors are associated with living alone or with extending the working day. These findings highlight determining factors relating to attitudes to time, results that highlight specific variables from daily life which can be the subject of interventions to facilitate the development of people with the potential to dominate or control time.

Please, cite this article as follows: Codina, N., Valenzuela, R., Pestana, J. V. (2020). De la percepción a los usos del tiempo: perspectiva temporal y procrastinación de adultos en España | From the perception to the uses of time: Time perspective and procrastination among adults in Spain. Revista Española de Pedagogía, 78 (277), 435-456. doi: 10.22550/REP78-3-2020-04

Referencias | References

Ato, M., López, J. J., & Benavente, A. (2013). Un sistema de clasificación de los diseños de investigación en psicología. Anales de Psicología, 29 (3), 1038-1059. doi: https://doi. org/10.6018/analesps.29.3.178511

Bluedorn, A. C. (2002). The human organization of time: Temporal realities and experience. Redwood City, CA: Stanford University Press.

Boniwell, I., & Zimbardo, P. G. (2004). Balancing time perspective in pursuit of optimal func- tioning. In P. A. Linley & S. Joseph (Eds.), Positive psychology in practice (pp. 165-178). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Boniwell, I., Osin, E., Linley, P. A., & Ivanchenko, G. V. (2010). A question of balan- ce: Time perspective and well-being in British and Russian samples. Journal of Positive Psychology, 5, 24-40. doi: https://doi. org/10.1080/17439760903271181

Cladellas, R., & Badia, M. (2010). La gestión del tiempo de los profesores universitarios en función de la modalidad educativa: sus efec- tos psicosociales. revista española de pe- dagogía, 68 (246), 297-310.

Codina, N., & Pestana, J. V. (2016). Actividad físi- co-deportiva como experiencia de ocio y Pers- pectiva Temporal en los jóvenes. Revista de Psicología del Deporte, 25 (Suppl. 2), 53-60.

Codina, N., & Pestana, J. V. (2017). Two sides of time in the leisure experience of youth: Time investment and time perspectives. Loisir et Société / Society and Leisure, 40 (3), 310-323. doi: 10.1080/07053436.2017.1378508

Codina, N., Castillo, I., Pestana, J. V., & Balaguer, I. (2020). Preventing Procrastination Be- haviours: Teaching Styles and Competence in University Students. Sustainability, 12, 2448. doi: 10.3390/su12062448

Codina, N., Pestana, J. V., & Ponce de León Elizondo, A. (2018). Tiempos dedicados al ocio físico-deportivo y perspectivas temporales: (Re)velando vulnerabilidades. Pedagogía Social. Revista Interuniversitaria, 31, 59-69. doi: 10.SE7179/PSRI_2018.31.05

Codina, N., Pestana, J. V., & Stebbins, R. A. (2017). Serious and casual leisure activities in the construction of young adult identity: a study based on participants’ self-descriptions. OBETS. Revista de Ciencias Sociales, 12 (Extra 1), 65-80. doi: http://dx.doi. org/10.14198/OBETS2017.12.1.12

Codina, N., Pestana, J. V., Romeo, M., & Yepes-Baldo, M. (2019). When shopping and leisure go together in malls. User experiences in Barcelona. Anuario de Psicología. The UB Journal of Psychology, 49 (1), 49-56. doi: ht tps://doi.org/10.1344/anpsic2019.49.6

Codina, N., Valenzuela, R., Pestana, J. V., & González-Conde, J. (2018). Relations Between Student Procrastination and Teaching Styles: Autonomy-Supportive and Controlling. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 809. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00809

D’Alessio, M., Guarino, A., De Pascalis, V., & Zimbardo, P. G. (2003). Testing Zimbardo’s Stanford Time Perspective Inventory (STPI)—Short Form: An Italian study. Time and Society, 12(2-3), 333-347. doi: https://doi. org/10.1177/0961463X030122010

Díaz-Morales, J. F. (2006). Estructura factorial y fiabilidad del Inventario de Perspectiva Temporal de Zimbardo. Psicothema, 18 (3), 565-571.

Díaz-Morales, J. F. (2019). Procrastination. A review of scales and correlates. Revista Iberoamericana de Diagnóstico y Evaluación e Avaliação Psicológica. RIDEP, 51 (2), 43-60. doi: 10.21865/RIDEP51.2.04

Díaz-Morales, J. F., & Ferrari, J. R. (2015). More time for procrastinators: The role of time perspective (pp. 305-321). In M. Stolarski, N. Fieulaine, & W. van Beek (Eds.), Time perspective theory: Review, research and application. London: Springer.

Díaz-Morales, J. F., Ferrari, J. R., Díaz, K., & Argumedo, D. (2006). Procrastination and demographic characteristics in Spanish adults:

Further evidence. The Journal of Social Psychology, 146, 629-633. doi: https://doi. org/10.3200/SOCP.146.5.629-633

Drake, L., Duncan, E., Sutherland, F., Abernethy, C., & Henry, C. (2008). Time Perspective and correlates of wellbeing. Time and Society, 17, 47-61. doi: https://doi.or g/10.1177/0961463X07086304

Ferrari, J. R., & Díaz-Morales, J. F. (2007). Procrastination: Different time orientations reflect different motives. Journal of Research in Personality, 41, 707-714. doi: https://doi. org/10.1016/j.jrp.2006.06.006

Bluedorn, A. C. (2002). The human organization of time: Temporal realities and experience. Redwood City, CA: Stanford University Press. Boniwell, I., & Zimbardo, P. G. (2004). Balancing time perspective in pursuit of optimal functioning. In P. A. Linley & S. Joseph (Eds.), Positive psychology in practice (pp. 165-178).

Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Boniwell, I., Osin, E., Linley, P. A., & Ivanchenko, G. V. (2010). A question of balance: Time perspective and well-being in British and Russian samples. Journal of Positive Psychology, 5, 24-40. doi: https://doi. org/10.1080/17439760903271181

Cladellas, R., & Badia, M. (2010). La gestión del tiempo de los profesores universitarios en función de la modalidad educativa: sus efectos psicosociales. revista española de pedagogía, 68 (246), 297-310.

Codina, N., & Pestana, J. V. (2016). Actividad físi- codeportiva como experiencia de ocio y Perspectiva Temporal en los jóvenes. Revista de Psicología del Deporte, 25 (Suppl. 2), 53-60.

Codina, N., Castillo, I., Pestana, J. V., & Balaguer, I. (2020). Preventing Procrastination Behaviours: Teaching Styles and Competence in University Students. Sustainability, 12, 2448. doi: 10.3390/su12062448

Goroshit, M. (2018). Academic procrastination and academic performance: an initial basis for intervention. Journal of Prevention & Intervention Community, 46 (2), 131-142. doi: 10.1080/10852352.2016.1198 157

Harriott, J., & Ferrari, J. R. (1996). Prevalence of procrastination among samples of adults. Psychological Reports, 78 (2), 611-616. doi: 10.2466/pr0.1996.78.2.611

Kim, S., Fernández, S., & Terrier, L. (2017). Procrastination, personality traits, and academic performance: when active and passive procrastination tell a different story. Personality and Individual Differences, 108, 154-157. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2016.12.021

Klingsieck, K. B. (2013). Procrastination: When good things don’t come to those who wait. European Psychologist, 18, 24-31. doi: ht tps://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040/a000138

Kooij, D. T., Kanfer, R., Betts, M., & Rudolph, C.

W. (2018). Future time perspective: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 103, 867-893. doi: 10.1037/apl0000306

Laureiro-Martínez, D., Trujillo, C. A., & Unda, J. (2017). Time perspective and age: A review of age associated differences. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 101. doi: 10.3389/ fpsyg.2017.00101

Lay, C. H. (1986). At last, my research article on procrastination. Journal of Research in Personality, 20, 474-495. doi: https://doi. org/10.1016/0092-6566(86)90127-3

Levasseur, L., Shipp, A., Fried, Y., Rousseau, D., & Zimbardo, F. (2020). New perspectives on time perspective and temporal focus. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 41 (3), 235-243. doi: 10.1002/job.2435

Lewin, K. (1948). Resolving social conflicts. Selected papers on group dynamics. Field theory in social science. Nueva York, NY: Harper & Brothers.

Mann, L. (1982). Decision Making Questionnaire: Parts I and II. In J. R. Ferrari, J. L. Johnson, & W. McCown (Eds.), Procrastination and task avoidance. Nueva York, NY: Plenum Press.

Matthews, G., & Stolarski, M. (2015). Emotional processes in development and dynamics of individual time perspective. In M. Stolarski, N. Fieulaine, & W. van Beek (Eds.), Time perspective theory: Review, research and application (pp. 269-286). Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.

McCown, W., Johnson, J., & Petzel, T. (1989). Procrastination, a principal components analysis. Personality and Individual Differences, 10, 197-202. doi: https://doi. org/10.1016/0191-8869(89)90204-3

Nuttin, J. (1985). Future time perspective and motivation: Theory and research method. Leuven, Belgium: Leuven University Press & Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Organic Law 15/1999, of 13 December on the Protection of Personal Data. Spanish Official Gazette, 298, 14 December 1999, pp. 43088-43099. Retrieved from https://www.boe.es/ boe/dias/1999/12/14/pdfs/A43088-43099.pdf (Consulted on 2020-03-15).

Pestana, J. V., Codina, N., & Valenzuela, R. (2020). Leisure and Procrastination, a Quest for Autonomy in Free Time Investments: Task Avoidance or Accomplishment? Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 2918. doi: https://doi. org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02918

Shell, D. F., & Husman, J. (2001). The multivariate dimensionality of personal control and future time perspective beliefs in achievement and self-regulation. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 26 (4), 481-506. doi: 10.1006/ceps.2000.1073

Simons, M., Peeters, S., Janssens, M., Lataster, J., & Jacobs, N. (2018) Does age make a difference? Age as moderator in the association

between time perspective and happiness. Journal of Happiness Studies, 19, 57-67 doi: 10.1007/s10902-016-9806-1

Sircova, A., van de Vijver, F. J. R., Osin, E., Milfont, T. L., Fieulaine, N., Kislali Erginbilgic, A., … Boyd, J. N. (2014). A global look at time: A 24 country study of the equivalence of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory. SAGE Open, 4 (1), 1-12. doi: https://doi. org/10.1177/2158244013515686

Soylu, C., & Ozekes, B. C. (2019). Psychometric Properties of the Future Time Perspective Scale for the Turkish Population: Age Differences in Predictors of Time Perspective. The International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 91 (1), 85-106. doi: https:// doi.org/10.1177/0091415019836108

Steel, P. (2007). The nature of procrastination: A meta-analytic and theoretical review of quintessential self-regulatory failure. Psychological Bulletin, 133 (1), 65-94. doi: https://doi. org/10.1037/0033-2909.133.1.65

Stolarski, M., Wiberg, B., & Osin, E. (2015). Assessing temporal harmony: the issue of a balanced time perspective. In M. Stolarski, N. Fieulaine, & W. van Beek (Eds.), Time Perspective Theory; Review, Research and Application: Essays in Honor of Philip G. Zimbardo (pp. 57-71). Berlin: Springer.

Valenzuela, R., Codina, N., & Pestana, J. V. (2020). Relations between university students’ physical activity, academic self-regulation and procrastination: Considering motives and gender-differences in the promotion of healthy habits. In L. Gómez Chova, A. López Martínez, & I. Candel Torres (Eds.), INTED2020 Proceedings. 14th International Technology, Education and Development Conference March 2nd-4th, 2020 — Valencia, España (pp. 7000-7005). Valencia: IATED Academy.

Valenzuela, R., Codina, N., Castillo, I., & Pestana, J. V. (2020). Young University Students’ Academic Self-Regulation Profiles and Their Associated Procrastination: Autonomous Functioning Requires Self-Regulated Operations. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 354. doi:

10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00354

Van Eerde, W. (2003). A meta-analytically derived nomological network of procrastination. Personality and Individual Differences, 35 (6), 1401-1418. doi: https://doi. org/10.1016/S0191-8869(02)00358-6

Webster, J. D. (2011). A new measure of time perspective: Initial psychometric findings for the Balanced Time Perspective Scale (BTPS). Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science / Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement, 43 (2), 111-118. doi: https:// doi.org/10.1037/a0022801

Wiberg, M., Sircova, A., Wiberg, B., & Carelli, M. G. (2012). Operationalizing balanced time perspective in a Swedish sample. The International Journal of Educational and Psychological Assessment, 12 (1), 95-107.

World Medical Association (2013). World medical association Declaration of Helsinki: ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects. Journal of the American Medical Association, 310 (20), 2191-2194. doi: 10.1001/jama.2013.281053

Yang, X., Xu, X., & Zhu, L. (2015). Media multi-tasking and psychological wellbeing in Chinese adolescents: Time management as a moderator. Computers in Human Behavior, 53, 216-222. doi: 10.1016/j. chb.2015.06.034

Yuan, B., & Jiang, Z. (2017). Disruption Management for the Real-Time Home Caregiver Scheduling and Routing Problem. Sustainability, 9 (12), 2178. doi: https://doi. org/10.3390/su9122178

Zaleski, Z. (1994). Psychology of future orientation. Lublin: Towarzystwo Naukowe KUL.

Zimbardo, P. G., & Boyd, J. (2009, original work published in 2008). La paradoja del tiempo: la nueva psicología del tiempo. Barcelona: Paidós.

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. doi: ht tps://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.77.6.1271

Zimbardo, P. G., Keough, K. A., & Boyd, J. N. (1997). Present time perspective as a predictor of risky driving. Personality and Individual Differences, 23 (6), 1007-1023. doi: ht tps://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(97)00113-X

Author Biography

Nuria Codina Mata is a Professor in the Department of Social Psychology and Quantitative Psychology at the Universidad de Barcelona and a member of the PsicoSAO (social, environmental and organizational psychology) consolidated research group (2017 SGR 564). Her lines of psychosocial research focus on: time and leisure activities, leisure experiences, enjoyment and autonomy in the practice of structured and unstructured activities, procrastination and temporal orientations.

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0280-3651

Rafael Valenzuela García is a PhD in Culture and Heritage Management from the Universidad de Barcelona. Professor in the Department of Social Psychology and Quantitative Psychology at the Universidad de Barcelona and member of the PsicoSAO consolidated research group (2017 SGR 564). He researches from a psycho-pedagogical-social perspective the formation of quality motivation in formal learning and in leisure, especially in musical practice.

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9935-1745

José Vicente Pestana Montesinos has a PhD in Psychology from the Universidad de Barcelona. Professor in the Department of Social Psychology and Quantitative Psychology at the Universidad de Barcelona and member of the PsicoSAO consolidated research group (2017 SGR 564). His scientific career has been based on the interweaving of leisure activities in the daily life of individuals — with emphasis on the development of the person (having recently incorporated the Jungian analytical perspective). Specialised in the study of theatre.

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8329-0650

Citación recomendada | Recommended citation

Mata, N. C., García, R. V., & Pestana Montesinos, J. V. (2020) . From the perception to the uses of time: Time perspective and procrastination among adults in Spain. Revista Española de Pedagogía, 78(277). https://www.revistadepedagogia.org/rep/vol78/iss277/13