A balanced time perspective and narrative foreclosure

Time perspective and lifestories are intimately connected and may have important links to well-being, yet little research in these areas exists. This study investigated how a balanced time perspective, defined as positive perceptions about both one’s past and future, is associated with an aspect of lifestories called Narrative Foreclosure (NF), a belief that one’s lifestory is basically completed. Participants included 186 male and 326 female Dutch adults ranging in age from 17 – 92 (M = 46.46, SD = 21.37). Bivariate correlations showed expected negative correlations between NF and past and future subscales of the Balanced Time Perspective Scale (BTPS), and hierarchic regression analyses showed that time perspective accounted for additional variance in NF above and beyond demographic, physical health, and personality variables. ANOVA results indicated main effects for both age and time perspective whereby younger adults, and persons in the future and balanced time categories of the BTPS, scored lower in NF.