Do Time Perspective and Year in School Influence GPA in African American College Students

IntroductionZimbardo and Boyd (1999) were the first to develop an assessment to quantify how an individual views the passage of time. The Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI) measures five distinct dimensions of time perspective: past-positive, past-negative, present-hedonistic, present-fatalistic, and future. The past-positive dimension involves having a positive attitude about past experiences. On the contrary, the past-negative is characterized by a pessimistic view of the past. Individuals who are present-hedonistic are impulsive and tend to seek immediate pleasure and gratification, while the present-fatalistic dimension is associated with a negative and hopeless attitude about life. Lastly, the future dimension involves an overall future orientation which is useful in striving to achieve one's professional and academic goals (Zimbardo & Boyd, 1999). Several studies have, in fact, reported an association with the future dimension and higher grades (Adelabu, 2007; Mello & Worrell, 2006; Zimbardo & Boyd, 1999; Zimbardo & Boyd, 2008). However, a characterization of the causal relationship of time perspective on academic achievement has yet to be established. Towards that end, we sought to investigate the presence of mediating factors that may be associated with time perspective and grades and to assess the effectiveness of this measure with African American students.Mello and Worrell (2006) found future time perspective was positively associated with grade point average (GPA) in a sample of 722 "academically talented" middle and high school students. In that study, present-fatalism was negatively associated with GPA. Adelabu (2007) utilized the Zimbardo Time Perspective short form, which consists of 22 items and restricts the five dimensions of time perspective to future or present orientation. The short form was administered to 232 African American students in an urban high school in the southern United States. African American adolescents with a present time perspective had lower grades than students who scored higher on the future orientation. In a more recent study from our institution, Perkins (2012) found African American college students with a future time perspective had a higher GPA. Given these findings, one could conclude that individuals with a future time perspective are more likely to focus on their academic endeavors and pursue their educational goals.Literature ReviewAccording to Zimbardo and Boyd (2008), people may be able to change their time perspective. Zimbardo and Boyd stated that they "are more optimistic about the possibility of changing attitudes toward time as well as the behaviors associated with them." Lewin (1942) implied that as individuals develop and transition from childhood to adulthood, their time perspective shifts from a present orientation to a future orientation. Other researchers have also proposed that maturity causes one to become more future oriented (Mello & Worrell, 2006; Piaget, 1955).On average, the retention rate between the freshman and sophomore year at four year institutions is 74 percent (Allen, Robbins, Casillas, & Oh, 2008). In the state of Virginia, for the incoming class of 2012, the retention rate of first year students returning for a second year is 65 percent, but this drops drastically to 47 percent for those returning for a third year (State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, 2015). There are many factors that cause a student to drop out of college, including finances, family or job pressures, and inadequate performance. Since about 40 percent of college students will drop out before receiving their degree (DeBerard, Spielmans, & Julka, 2004), an effective intervention aimed at increasing the number of successful college graduates is warranted.The purpose of the present study is to examine the link between time perspective, year in school, and GPA in African American college students. …