Opposing Changes in Past and Future Time Orientations with Age

Abstract

The bidirectional model of psychological time, that past and future orientations change in opposite directions with increasing age, was tested. Age was positively related to the number of life experiences recalled by 67 college students from the distant past but was negatively correlated with life experiences expected to occur in the near or distant future. This simultaneous and inverse adjustment of past and future orientations with age adds further support to a bidirectional model consistent with field theory.