The Relationship of Time Perspective to Age, Gender, and Academic Achievement among Academically Talented Adolescents

Abstract

Time perspective is a useful psychological construct associated with educational outcomes (Phalet, Andriessen, & Lens, 2004) and may prove fruitful for research focusing on academically talented adolescents. Thus, the relationship of time perspective to age, gender, and academic achievement was examined among 722 academically talented middle and high school students. Time perspective was measured using the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI; Zimbardo & Boyd, 1999). Regression analyses yielded several significant results: An increase in age was associated with present hedonism, females had fewer negative thoughts about the future than males, and academic achievement was negatively associated with present fatalistic attitudes and positively associated with future positive attitudes. Findings support the examination of time perspective as a multidimensional construct including past, present, and future orientations in academically talented populations. Implications of these results for educational and developmental theory and practice are discussed.