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Social class and sex as determinants of future orientation (time perspective) in adults
Author(s) -
Schmidt Rolf W.,
Lamm Helmut,
Trommsdorff Gisela
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
european journal of social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.609
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1099-0992
pISSN - 0046-2772
DOI - 10.1002/ejsp.2420080107
Subject(s) - pessimism , optimism , psychology , biology and political orientation , social psychology , middle class , separate spheres , subject (documents) , perspective (graphical) , test (biology) , private sphere , politics , social class , extension (predicate logic) , realization (probability) , public sphere , political science , epistemology , ideology , paleontology , philosophy , statistics , mathematics , artificial intelligence , library science , computer science , law , biology , programming language
This studv was designed to test hypotheses concerning the influence of sex roles and social status on future orientation (FO). The latter was measured in various categories (spheres of life),on the dimensions of density (number of hopes andfears cited by the subject), extension, and optimism‐pessimism. Also included was a measure of ‘internal vs. external control’ (the subject's assessment as to whether the realization of his hopes and fears is dependent more on himself or more on external factors). Subjects were 100 employed men and women of the lower and middle class. It was found that, in comparison with women, men voiced more hopes/fears in the public sphere (economy, politics, environment) and fewer in the private sphere uamily, occupation, personal development). Men had a more extended FO in the occupational and economic spheres; women, in contrast, in the private sphere. (These results contradicted the assumption of earlier studies that FO is a general orientation, not varying across different domains of life.) Middle‐class (in comparison to lowerclass) persons manifested a, wore extended FO, envisioned the distant future more optimistically, and believed more markedly that the realization of their hopes and fears depended on themselves.