Because of Day-light Savings Time I have been thinking
a lot about Time. When I think about
Time I can’t help but think about Dr. Philip Zimbardo & John Boyd’s book – “The Time Paradox: The New Psychology of Time
That Will Change Your Life.” Our behaviors and decisions relate to how we
perceive time. The different time perspectives consist of: Future, Past (positive & negative),
Present-Hedonistic, and Present-Fatalistic.
By understanding a person’s perspective of time we are able to empathize
with the person and have a better comprehension regarding choices and behaviors.
We
enter the world as Hedonistic Presented centered – we want it and we want it
NOW! As we get older some of us change
that perspective based on our life experiences, culture, family values,
religious beliefs…
Here is a brief overview of each orientation:
Future: behaviors are dominated by a striving for
future goals and rewards; focus is on if-then reasoning, probabilistic
thinking, and logical analysis; and good at delaying gratification
Past: behaviors and choices are made based on recalling
similar situations that did or did not work in the past; rituals and traditions
play important roles in their lives; suspicious of the new and different; most
prone to prejudices; and have a stable sense of self over time
Present - Hedonistic: behaviors are self-indulgent,
playful and focused on things that bring immediate pleasure; avoids things that
involve much effort, work, planning, or unpleasantness; often do poorly in
academics because there is little concern for future consequences; and do well
on creative tasks, activities with immediate feedback, sports, and high energy
activities.
Present-Fatalistic: behaviors are a result of feeling helpless and
hopeless toward the future and life; believe it does not pay to plan since
nothing works out for them as they envision; feel their lives are externally
controlled (either by religions values such as being a subordinate to the
higher powers or is a byproduct of economic failures/being lower class);
believe in luck for changing rather than hard work or planning; superstitious;
perform poorly in school/work because they have little external control; and
have more psychological problems.
The ideal Time perspective is to have high scores for
Positive Past, Present Hedonism, and Future while having low scores for Negative
Past, and Present Fatalism.
The video presented is only a brief clip from Dr.
Zimbardo’s lecture but it will give you a 10 minute visual of how these
perspectives influence our lives. Enjoy!
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