Perspectiva temporal y estilos de personalidad en estudiantes argentinos Temporal perspective and Personality styles in Argentinean students

Resumen

Resumen

En la Psicología, el concepto de perspectiva temporal, introducido por Lewin (1935), se define como la dirección preferencial de los pensamientos de un sujeto hacia el presente, pasado o futuro, dimensión más o menos estable de la personalidad, que influye sobre la motivación, el pensamiento y diversos aspectos de su conducta. Zimbardo define el concepto como un proceso no consciente mediante el cual el flujo de las experiencias personales y sociales se encuadra en categorías temporales que ayudan a dar orden, coherencia y significado a esas experiencias y lo operacionaliza, introduciendo también el concepto de perspectiva temporal balanceada (BTP). En este trabajo se presentan los resultados de datos recogidos en una muestra de 329 estudiantes de nivel medio, terciario y universitario, a partir de los que se exploró la posible relación entre perfiles de perspectiva temporal y estilos de personalidad en estudiantes argentinos de nivel medio, terciario y universitario y se evaluó el rol de la perspectiva temporal balanceada en la relación entre ambos constructos. Se aplicó el ZTPI (Inventario de Perspectiva Temporal) (Zimbardo & Boyd, 1999), el Cuestionario de Perspectiva Temporal Futura Trascendente (PTFT) (Boyd & Zimbardo, 1997) y el Inventario de estilos de personalidad (MIPS) (Millon 1994). Los análisis de correlaciones y de variancia arrojan evidencia empírica acerca de las relaciones significativas entre perfiles de Perspectiva temporal y Estilos de personalidad y se verifica, en particular, que hay un perfil de perspectiva temporal más adaptativo que el resto. Se interpretan los resultados como bidireccionales.

Palabras Claves: Perspectiva temporal; Estilos de personalidad; Perspectiva temporal balanceada; Futuro trascendental; Estudiantes argentinos

Summary

The notion of time is at the core of philosophical and psychological reflection, linked as it is to a systematic stance on the way of being of men and women in the world.

The psychological concept of time perspective, introduced by Lewin (1935), has been defined as the preferred direction of an individual’s thoughts, be it towards the present, past, or future. It constitutes a more or less stable personality dimension that influences motivation, thinking, and behaviour.

The operationalization of this concept has been chiefly discussed by Zimbardo, who defines it as an “often non- conscious process whereby the continual flows of personal and social experiences are assigned to temporal categories or time frames that help to give order, coherence and meaning to those events.” The relative emphasis on past or future time frames may lead to considerable differences in current decision-making and behaviour, functioning as a static or even as a non-adaptive personality trait. The concept of balanced time perspective (BTP), by contrast, involves the flexible combination of present, past, and future, depending on the demands of the moment, the tasks to be performed, and people’s dominant values.

The paper presents the findings of a study based on a sample of 329 Argentine secondary, post-secondary, and university students. It explores the possible relation between time perspective profiles and personality styles as well as the role of balanced time perspective in such relation.  The subjects were administered the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (Zimbardo and Boyd, 1999), the Transcendental Future Time Perspective Questionnaire (Boyd and Zimbardo, 1997), and the Millon Index of Personality Styles (Millon, 1994). Correlation analysis, analysis of variance, proportion difference significance tests, and K-means cluster analysis were conducted. SPSS.20 software was used.

Cluster analysis showed three time perspective profiles and three personality styles. Balanced Time Perspective deviation was calculated for each subject, yielding three clusters. Correlation and variance analysis provide empirical evidence of significant relations between time perspective profiles and personality styles, one of the former proving more adaptive than the others. Fifty five per cent of the subjects with a balanced/transcendental time perspective belonged to the open, firm, and sociable personality group, whereas 40% of those with conflictive time perspective had conflictive personalities.

The inclusion of the transcendental future time perspective as unified by the ZTPI has revealed that it particularly influences time perspective profiles and their relation to personality styles. Some of these relations, as well as the differences between them and those identified by the authors of both time perspective scales, are construed as the product of cultural differences. All the relations are confirmed by the balanced time perspective, which was found in 28% of the subjects. The existence of a bidirectional relation of mutual influence is suggested. On the one hand, certain personality traits would lead to different outlooks on the temporal dimension of the life behind or ahead; on the other, the time perspective profile might consolidate into a personality trait, shaping the other traits and helping form a more or less adaptive or whole identity.

Key words: Temporal perspective; Personality stiles; Balanced temporal perspective; Transcendental future; Argentinian students.