Department of Psychology and Centre for Psychosocial Health, Education University of Hong Kong, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong, China.
Aging Ment Health. 2021 Feb;25(2):316-322. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2019.1693965. Epub 2019 Nov 22.
While the socioemotional selectivity theory (SST) argues for a negative relationship between future time perspective (FTP) and subjective well-being (SWB), empirical studies have found contradictory results. The current study resolved the controversy by examining the indirect effect between FTP and SWB through preference of life goals. Age differences in the mediation effects were also tested.
A total of 432 participants were surveyed for their FTP, life goals, depression, life satisfaction, and demographical background. The three components of FTP, extension (FTE), opportunity (FTO), and constraint (FTC), were examined respectively. Regression based mediation models were estimated to test the direct and indirect effects between FTP components and SWB. Moderated mediation models were adopted to test age differences in the above effects.
Opposite direct and indirect effects between FTP components and SWB were identified. FTE and FTO were related to relatively fewer present-focused life goals, and then to lower life satisfaction and higher depression. However, FTE and FTO were directly related to higher life satisfaction. FTC was not significantly related to preference of life goals but had a direct positive effect with depression. Moreover, older age attenuated the positive direct effect between FTO and life satisfaction, as well as the negative effect between preference to present-focused goals and depression.
The results highlight the critical role of life goal preference for understanding the complex relationship between FTP and subjective well-being. The differential effects of the three FTP components also suggest the importance to examine each component individually in future studies.
尽管社会情绪选择理论（SST）认为未来时间透视（FTP）与主观幸福感（SWB）之间存在负相关，但实证研究却得出了相互矛盾的结果。本研究通过检验生活目标偏好与 FTP 和 SWB 之间的间接关系来解决这一争议。还测试了年龄差异在中介效应中的作用。
共有 432 名参与者接受了他们的 FTP、生活目标、抑郁、生活满意度和人口统计学背景的调查。分别检查了 FTP 的三个组成部分，即延伸（FTE）、机会（FTO）和约束（FTC）。回归中介模型用于检验 FTP 成分与 SWB 之间的直接和间接效应。采用调节中介模型来检验上述效应中的年龄差异。
发现 FTP 成分与 SWB 之间存在相反的直接和间接效应。FTE 和 FTO 与相对较少的以现在为中心的生活目标相关，然后与较低的生活满意度和较高的抑郁相关。然而，FTE 和 FTO 与较高的生活满意度直接相关。FTC 与生活目标的偏好没有显著关系，但与抑郁呈正相关。此外，年龄较大减弱了 FTO 与生活满意度之间的直接正效应，以及对以现在为中心的目标的偏好与抑郁之间的负效应。
研究结果强调了生活目标偏好在理解 FTP 和主观幸福感之间复杂关系中的关键作用。三个 FTP 成分的差异效应也表明，在未来的研究中单独检查每个成分的重要性。
