Future time perspective and awareness of age-related change: Examining their role in predicting psychological well-being

Abstract

This study examined how 2 distinct facets of perceived personal lifetime-future time perspective (FTP) and awareness of age-related change (AARC)-are associated with another, and how they may interact to predict psychological well-being. To better understand associations among subjective perceptions of lifetime, aging, and well-being, we tested a series of models to investigate questions of directionality, indirect effects, and conditional processes among FTP, AARC-Gains, AARC-Losses, and psychological well-being. In all models, we tested for differences between middle-aged and older adults, and between adults from the United States and Germany. Analyses were conducted within a structural equation modeling framework on a cross-national, 2.5-year longitudinal sample of 537 community-residing adults (age 40-98 years). Awareness of age-related losses (AARC-Losses) at Time 1 predicted FTP at Time 2, but FTP did not predict AARC-Gains or AARC-Losses. Furthermore, future time perspective mediated the association between AARC-Losses and well-being. Moderation analyses revealed a buffering effect of awareness of age-related gains (AARC-Gains) in which perceptions of more age-related gains diminished the negative effect of a limited future time perspective on well-being. Effects were robust across age groups and countries. Taken together, these findings suggest that perceived age-related loss experiences may sensitize individuals to perceive a more limited future lifetime which may then lead to lower psychological well-being. In contrast, perceived age-related gains may function as a resource to preserve psychological well-being, in particular when time is perceived as running out. (PsycINFO Database Record

Figure 1

Structural equation model examining the causal relationship between future time perspective (FTP) and awareness of age-related change (AARC) and their indirect effects on the Scales of Psychological Well-Being (SPWB). Correlations among the residuals, predictors, and mediators were omitted in the figure for reasons of parsimony. FTP1 – FTP3 = item parcels to indicate future time perspective; PP – LN = AARC-Gains and Losses sum scores for the five AARC domains: Health and physical functioning, cognitive functioning, interpersonal relations, social-emotional/social-cognitive functioning, lifestyle and engagement. AARC abbreviations indicate valence as follows: PP = physical positive; PN = physical negative, etc. AUT = Autonomy; EM = Environmental Mastery; PG = Personal Growth; PUR = Purpose in Life; PR = Positive Relations with Others; SA = Self-Acceptance. e = manifest variable residuals.