Perspective orientation and time dimension in student motivation

Abstract

Orientating oneself to time and work for the future is considered a substantive compo-nent of the autoregulative process. It is also important to students ́ mental regulation, which is closely related to academic success. The factor of time in human life has been approached in psychology in a variety of ways. We will focus primarily on those concepts which study time and detect time patterns in motivational dynamics of personality. The concepts of Joel O. Ray-nor, Torgrim Gjesme, Joseph R. Nuttin and Philip G. Zimbardo will be mentioned. Of Czech authors, the “perspective orientation” by Isabella Pavelková is presented. We will discuss diagnostic methods used in the measurement of time perspective, especially the Motivation Induction Method (MIM – J.R. Nuttin). Secondly, we will present selected researches that have been carried out in this fi eld in the Czech Republic. These studies are focused primarily on issues related to the identifi cation, development, and opportunities of internal assump-tions conditioning the character and quality of an individual ́s future.