Time perspective and learning strategies in adolescence

We studied how specific dimensions of time perspective, as assessed by the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory, are related to learning strategies and are able to predict school succes. A scale measuring learning strategies, Inventory of Learning Strategy, have been employed to obtain the data; to assess school success we used the average grades in some scholastic courses. This study is based on a sample of 378 Italian adolescents in their last year of secondary school. The reserach demonstrated that adolescents who are especially present oriented and those with a negative past orientation are not be able to plan a path to realistic goals. They use less self-regulation strategies and they report a greater level of anxiety. Those with high future orientation and a positive past orientation are good at setting and achieving goals, they can self-regulate their behavior and they show high levels of volition and planning strategies for meeting long-term obligations. In the male sample school success is best predicted by the dimension of disorientation while in the female group is a low level of anxiety. Future time prespective and self-regulation are the only significant predictors of school success for both the male and female samples. The implications of the findings for future theoretical and empirical development of research in this field are discussed.