Philip G. Zimbardo

Time perspective

The Time Paradox book cover by psychologist Philip Zimbardo

Zimbardo’s  research on the psychology of time perspective focuses on the ways in which individuals develop temporal orientations that divide the flow of personal experience into different mental categories, or time zones, of Past, Present, and Future.  He was interested in how these learned temporal biases might not be properly “balanced” according to situations, contexts and demands, but instead are either utilized excessively or underutilized. Although Zimbardo is known primarily as a “situationist,” the time perspective research utilizes one of the best individual difference measures available, The Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI). It is presented, along with scoring rules, on the web site. Researchers can use it free with  agreement to share results. There are nearly 24 different translations of the ZTPI around the world, with many researchers finding significant effects relating TP scale scores to a host of outcome measures. This work has been used to create a therapeutic model for the treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

†

Selected Publications: 

  • Zimbardo, P. G., Keough, K. A., & Boyd, J. N. (1997). Present time perspective as a predictor of risky driving. Personality and individual differences, 23(6), 1007-1023.
  • Boyd, J. N., & Zimbardo, P. G. (1997). Constructing time after death: The transcendental-future time perspective. Time & Society, 6(1), 35-54.
  • Boyd, J. N., & Zimbardo, P. G. (2006). Time perspective, health, and risk taking. In Understanding behavior in the context of time (pp. 97-119). Psychology Press.
  • Zimbardo, Philip & Boyd, John. (2008) The Time Paradox. New York: Simon and Schuster.
  • See: https://www.thetimeparadox.com/
  • Holman, E. A., & Zimbardo, P. G. (2009). The social language of time: The time perspective–social network connection. Basic and applied social psychology, 31(2), 136-147.
  • Stolarski, M., Bitner, J., & Zimbardo, P. G. (2011). Time perspective, emotional intelligence and discounting of delayed awards. Time & Society, 20(3), 346-363.
  • Zimbardo, P., Sword, R., & Sword, R. (2012). The time cure: Overcoming PTSD with the new psychology of time perspective therapy. John Wiley & Sons.
  • Sword, R. M., Sword, R. K., Brunskill, S. R., & Zimbardo, P. G. (2014). Time perspective therapy: A new time-based metaphor therapy for PTSD. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 19(3), 197-201.
  • Zimbardo, P. G., & Boyd, J. N. (2014). Putting time in perspective: A valid, reliable individual-differences metric. In Time perspective theory; review, research and application: Essays in honor of Philip G. Zimbardo (pp. 17-55). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
  • Boniwell, I., & Zimbardo, P. G. (2015). Balancing time perspective in pursuit of optimal functioning. Positive psychology in practice: Promoting human flourishing in work, health, education, and everyday life, 223-236.
  • Zimbardo Z. M., McDermott, R. & Zimbardo, P. G., A New Measure of the Expanded Present Time Perspective in A. Kostic & D. Chadee (Eds.)Time Perspective: Theory and Practice, editors Aleksandra Kostic and Derek Chadee, 2017. (pp.41-62). Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Stolarski, M., Fieulaine, N., & Zimbardo, P. G. (2018). Putting time in a wider perspective: The past, the present, and the future of time perspective theory. The SAGE handbook of personality and individual differences, 1, 592-625.
  • Levasseur, L., Shipp, A. J., Fried, Y., Rousseau, D. M., & Zimbardo, P. G. (2020). New perspectives on time perspective and temporal focus. Journal of Organizational Behavior (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.), 41(3).

Related Resource: