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How We Feel is a Matter of Time: Relationships Between Time Perspectives and Mood

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Abstract

Both personality and emotional experiences may be influenced by people’s time perspectives. The Zimbardo time perspective inventory measures five trait dimensions related to past, present and future perspectives. Two studies were conducted to investigate how these time perspective dimensions related to mood. The first study (n = 260) confirmed that ZTPI scales predicted moods including energetic arousal, tense arousal and Hedonic Tone, revealing that past negative and Present Hedonistic time perspectives are the most robust predictors of current emotional states. Moreover, future time perspective proved to predict energetic arousal, but the effect was suppressed by present hedonism. The second study (n = 65) measured mood twice in a 4-week period, and focused on relationships between the ZTPI and recalled and anticipated mood. Analyses conducted using DBTP, an index of temporal harmony based on the ZTPI scores, proved that balanced time perspective was related to more positive mood states in both studies. Findings confirmed that time perspective appears to influence both recall and anticipation of mood. For example, past negative time perspective is associated with anticipation of negative moods, and Past Positive perspective relates to both recall and anticipation of energy. Time perspective may structure the individual’s affective experience.

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Acknowledgments

Maciej Stolarski, Sławomir Postek and Joanna Bitner were supported by a Grant No. N N106 352540 of Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, Stawki Str. 5/7, 00-183, Warsaw, Poland

    Maciej Stolarski, Sławomir Postek & Joanna Bitner

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Gerald Matthews

  3. Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Philip G. Zimbardo

Authors
  1. Maciej Stolarski
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  2. Gerald Matthews
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  3. Sławomir Postek
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  4. Philip G. Zimbardo
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  5. Joanna Bitner
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Correspondence to Maciej Stolarski.

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Stolarski, M., Matthews, G., Postek, S. et al. How We Feel is a Matter of Time: Relationships Between Time Perspectives and Mood. J Happiness Stud 15, 809–827 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-013-9450-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-013-9450-y

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