The Future Self: Our Past, Present, and Future
This section focuses on the Time Perspective Theory of Philip Zimbardo which explains that people are likely to sort, categorize, and analyze their human experiences into past, present, and future timeframes, influenced by personal, social, and institutional factors.
Towards an Optimistic Future
Understanding the self is not just about knowing and recognizing oneself as a product of different life factors. The self and its potentials and limits can be more thoroughly understood by using a time-oriented lens that focuses on how the self evolves from being the self of the past, of the present, and the possible self in the future.
This time-oriented conceptualization of the self importantly explains how individuals construe their sense of self by using temporal perspectives in self interpretations, and the processes that individuals use in conceptualizing what one can possibly or potentially become.
Søren Kierkegaard once said that “life can only be understood backward, but it must be lived forwards.” What he meant in this quote is that an individual has the capability to plan for his/her future if he/she is able to understand and retrospectively reflect on experiences, past choices, and decisions, past behaviors. Understanding the past and taking control of the present can lead to an optimistic future.
Time Perspective Theory
The Time Perspective Theory of Philip Zimbardo (1999) explains how people envision their experiences. In a nutshell, his theory explains that people are likely to sort, categorize, and analyze their human experiences into the past, present, and future timeframes, influenced by personal, social, and institutional factors.
The theory also warns people against making decisions dominated by only a one-time frame. Thus, in planning and setting goals, it should be based on something learned from the past and contextualized by the present which can facilitate future growth and development.
The 5-time perspective, according to the theory, are the following:
Present Hedonistic individuals tend to be risk-takers, driven by sensory, concrete factors, and driven by pleasurable sensations. They often disregard the negative consequences of their actions since they are focused on the process rather than the outcome, and are often emotional and volatile.
Present fatalistic individuals are those who feel their lives are out of control and that no matter what they do, things will not turn out as they plan them to be.
Past positive individuals are likely to remain in their comfort zone, their actions influenced by what has worked in the past.
Past negative individuals, like past-positive ones, are always anchored on the past but being on the negative side, they tend to focus on the wrong decisions they have made in the past and constantly regret them.
Future-oriented individuals base their present choices and action on long-term consequences. They are likely to manifest the delay of gratification and endure negative situations if they are likely to see the benefits of doing such.
According to Zimbardo, a healthy perspective is one that combines past, present, and future time perspectives. Remembering past lessons and gaining insights from both positive and negative experiences, maximizing present opportunities and circumstances, and planning for the future can have positive outcomes for any individual, and in this context, students. Thus, taking note of time perspectives can certainly help college students in determining their futures, within personal and professional contexts.
