Different times - different values. Do time perspectives affect sustainable behavior and values?

Abstract

Time perspectives are rarely investigated as possible antecedents of sustainable behavior. It is known that being guided by altruistic and biospheric values, as well as being future-oriented may potentially lead to more sustainable behavior. Adopting a person oriented approach we aimed to clarify whether being future-oriented promotes sustainable behavior. A total of 125 university students from various study programs participated in the study. Results indicated that the past-positive and future time perspectives are related with sustainable behaviors, which, in turn, are linked to altruistic and biospheric values. Cluster comparison suggests that future-oriented individuals have a more realistic view towards sustainability social norms, when compared with those that are present-oriented. Those who are more present oriented believe that people’s awareness of sustainability social norms is congruent with their behavior, while those who are more future-oriented tend to believe, that it is not constantly the case.