Balanced time perspective and time-oriented well-being dimensions: patterns and relationship across adulthood

The study investigates the relationships among Balanced Time Perspective (BTP) and both life satisfaction and flourishing in emerging, middle, and advanced adults while validating the Italian version of the Balanced Time Perspective Scale (BTPS). By integrating satisfaction with life, a reflective evaluation rooted in past and present experiences, and flourishing, a future-oriented process of growth and purpose, this study adopts a time-oriented perspective on wellbeing. A total of 681 Italian participants aged 18–65, categorized into emerging, middle, and advanced adulthood, completed the BTPS, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, and the Flourishing Scale.

Psychometric validation of the BTPS included exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Variations in BTP profiles and their relationships with time-oriented well-being dimensions were analyzed using ANOVA and MANOVA, focusing on age-specific patterns and interactions. The BTPS demonstrated strong validity and reliability.

Time-oriented well-being dimensions revealed complex, non-linear age-related variations. Emerging adults exhibited the highest future orientation and total BTP scores, which declined with age. Individuals characterized as Time-expansive consistently scored the highest across well-being dimensions.

Conversely, Time-restrictive and Reminiscers scored low on the well-being dimensions. Significant interactions between age and BTP profiles in well-being scores suggested that well-being outcomes are related to both life stage and temporal orientation, offering a nuanced understanding of adult development. This study underscores BTP as a critical factor in understanding the patterns of time-oriented well-being across adulthood and the dynamic interplay among age, temporal balance, and well-being, providing a foundation for targeted interventions and longitudinal studies to explore adaptive functioning across the life course further.

Correspondence to Teresa Maria Sgaramella. The authors declare no competing interests. The study was conducted according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki, and the research procedures followed all the guidelines of the AIP (Italian Psychology Association) and its Ethics Council.

It is part of a research project approved by the Research Committee and the Board of the FISPPA Department, University of Padova (Prot1357, March 22, 2019) with the scope of describing patterns of functioning with no clinical use of the findings. Written informed consent was obtained from all individual participants at the time of survey proposal and during the period spanning December 1, 2022, to February 28, 2024. The consent form explained the study’s purpose, the voluntary nature of participation, the types of questions involved, and participants’ rights, including the right to withdraw at any stage without penalty.