The connection of time perspective with personality traits and subjective well-being

The aim of our study was to research the connection of the six time perspective dimensions and of balanced time perspective with personality traits and subjective well-being. Our starting point was the assumption that time perspective is closely connected to personality traits and subjective well-being. It has been theorized that so called balanced time perspective is optimal in the Western cultures. It is defined by moderately high scores on present-hedonistic and future, high scores on past-positive and low scores on past-negative and present-fatalistic, with an emphasis on individual's ability of flexible adjusting in given situations. People with balanced time perspective profile have many positive memories of the past, find enough opportunity for relaxation and pleasure in the present, and seek new challenges in the future, which gives them motivation for hard work. They are supposed to handle daily life more efficiently and to be happier than people with other time perspective profiles. Therefore we have hypothesized positive connection of balanced time perspective with positive personality traits and high scores on subjective well-being. 279 students studying different subjects at the Faculty of arts, University in Ljubljana, whose mean age was 21.2 years, participated in the study. The results reveal connections of positive time perspective dimensions (including transcendental-future) and of balanced time perspective with extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness and higher level of subjective well-being, and connections of negative time perspective dimensions with neuroticism, lower level of subjective well-being and higher level of depression. It turned out that balance of time perspective is an important predictor of individual's level of satisfaction with life, and it also explains some variance in positive emotionality and depression