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SCIENCE ARTICLE
What’s Your Time
Perspec tive?
Jane Collingwood
BACKGROUND
Psychologist Phillip Zimbardo, whose work forms the basis for the
concept of time perspective, is a social psychologist. His research often
focuses on the causes of human behavior, especially factors that can
urge people to act against their own interests or desires.W
e are all time travelers: We draw on past memories,
experience the present, and look forward to future rewards.
But how easily we travel back and forth makes a crucial difference
to how well we do in life and how happy we are while we’re
living it.
Our time perspective—whether we tend to get stuck in the past,
live only for the moment, or are enslaved by our ambitions for
the future—can predict everything from educational and career
success to general health and happiness.
Stanford University psychology professor emeritus Philip
Zimbardo coined the idea of time perspective. After more than
ten years’ research, he concluded that our attitude toward time
is just as defining as key personality traits such as optimism or
sociability. He believes that time perspective influences many of
our judgments, decisions, and actions. Zimbardo recommended123About the Author
Jane Collingwood is a therapeutic counselor and
psychotherapist working in Plymouth in the United
Kingdom. The issues she works with include loss,
anxiety, anticipatory grief, and general mental well-
being. Collingwood has written extensively for popular
psychology websites on a wide variety of topics for both
psychology professionals and the general public.IL35 UNIT 3 Independent Learning • What’s Your Time Perspective?