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Feeling Closer to the Future Self and Doing Better: Temporal Psychological Mechanisms Underlying Academic Performance
Author(s) -
Adelman Robert Mark,
Herrmann Sarah D.,
Bodford Jessica E.,
Barbour Joseph E.,
Graudejus Oliver,
Okun Morris A.,
Kwan Virginia S. Y.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of personality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.082
H-Index - 144
eISSN - 1467-6494
pISSN - 0022-3506
DOI - 10.1111/jopy.12248
Subject(s) - psychology , feeling , academic achievement , self control , social psychology , control (management) , developmental psychology , management , economics
This research examined the function of future self‐continuity and its potential downstream consequences for academic performance through relations with other temporal psychological factors and self‐control. We also addressed the influence of cultural factors by testing whether these relations differed by college generation status. Undergraduate students enrolled at a large public university participated in two studies (Study 1: N = 119, M age = 20.55, 56.4% women; Study 2: N = 403, M age = 19.83, 58.3% women) in which they completed measures of temporal psychological factors and psychological resources. In Study 2, we also obtained academic records to link responses to academic performance. Future self‐continuity predicted subsequent academic performance and was related positively to future focus, negatively to present focus, and positively to self‐control. Additionally, the relation between future focus and self‐control was stronger for continuing‐generation college students than first‐generation college students. Future self‐continuity plays a pivotal role in academic contexts. Findings suggest that it may have positive downstream consequences on academic achievement by directing attention away from the present and toward the future, which promotes self‐control. Further, the strategy of focusing on the future may be effective in promoting self‐control only for certain cultural groups.