About

The International Network on Time Perspectives

WE ARE

250+ active members from more than 40 countries around the world
both young and established researchers from various backgrounds
passionate about time in psychological and social phenomena
very open to dialogue across different disciplines
eager to apply our knowledge about time to solving various real-life puzzles

WE AIM TO

inspire collaborative research and applied projects in the field of our expertise
provide an opportunity for sharing knowledge, information and ideas
promote applications of our findings into public life of our various nations

A perspective on Time…

From the earliest philosophers to the more recent contributions in human, social, and political sciences, the psychological dimension of time perspectives appears as a crucial issue for human beings. In the ways in which individuals, groups, nations or civilizations project themselves into the past, the present, and the future lies the possibility for humans to reach a relative independence towards the necessity and the uncertainty of the material world. In psychology, this question had received particular attention, as the process of partitioning the flow of daily life experiences into temporal categories (past, present and future). In addition, much work has been done on time related phenomena such as conditioned psychological development, social relations, cognitive control, and subjective well-being (Piaget, 1946; Fraisse, 1967; Nuttin, 1977; Nuttin & Lens, 1985; Melges, 1982; Boniwell & Zimbardo, 2004; Seginer, 2009). Societies, together with individuals, do not live only in and for the present. Psychological space (the space in which we concretely live) is extended by perspectives of past and future, which participate (with the presence of others) to determine the meaning of the present and the way in which we behave and survive and even thrive (Hulett, 1944; Adam, 1995; Zimbardo & Boyd, 1999).

Since the theoretical foundation of this “Time perspective” concept by Kurt Lewin (1942), this field of research is one of the most developed in different areas of psychology (social, developmental, clinical, cognitive, personality, decision making, and more). At an international level, the continuous growth of research in this field was largely jeopardized by the diversity of measures and approaches adopted. But since the introduction by Philip Zimbardo and John Boyd of a new valid, reliable, and standardized measure of time perspectives, the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI, Zimbardo & Boyd, 1999), an integrative and cumulative research movement has appeared and is now flourishing.

Our Focus

The International Research Network on Time Perspective(s) was born in 2007, from a joint initiative of researchers working on time perspectives in psychology. It aims to enhance and develop research interest and collaborations in the field of the study of temporal dimension of social and psychological phenomena. The goal of our international network is to provide a framework for information sharing, theory building, structuring collaborative research projects, and promoting both grant applications as well as applications of our findings into public life of our various nations. It is composed of leading scientists in the field, young researchers and academics, graduate and PhD students from more than 20 different countries. Gathered around the concept of “time perspectives” (Lewin, 1942; Nuttin, 1977; Zimbardo & Boyd, 1999), we currently have three main areas of collaboration:

The measurement of time perspectives. Beyond sharing a concept, we are using a particular inventory to asses time perspectives, namely the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory, presented in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology by Phil Zimbardo & John Boyd in 1999. Through the validation of the ZTPI in our respective languages, our goal is to ensure comparability and the cumulative aspect of TP research, and to deepen and improve measures of TP by our cumulative results and data sharing.
International comparison and cross-cultural analyses. We are conducting cross-cultural analyses, with a common database gathering data provided by the members from more than two dozen participating countries. This database allows testing the cross-cultural validity of the measure, and to carry out analyses of cross-cultural variations in relation with social and cultural factors.
The study of the role of TP in understanding and solve contemporary social issues. Another aim of our network is to share and discuss results from studies assessing the role of time dimensions in various applied topics, such as socioeconomic inequalities, public health, climate change and environmental problems, education, violence, organizational settings, and others. A future goal is to build international large-scale collaborative research.

Expanding the scope

On the 4th international conference on time perspective (ICTP) in Nantes, 2018, we decided to further expand the focus on time research. Thus, we gave our network a new name: “Time Perspective” became “Time Perspectives”, reflecting the openness to further work on time-related aspects, besides the classic questionnaire by Zimbardo & Boyd (1999). If you are a scientist, practitioner, or artist working on time-related topics, feel free to get in touch with us. You can find regular updates in our newsletter or join us at our next biennial conference.