Adolescents’ and Parents’ Regulatory Focus as Determinants of Future Time Perspective on School and Professional Career

Future time perspective (FTP) - individuals' orientation towards future goals and consideration of future consequences - is a successful motivator in education and work. This study is the first that integrates Regulatory focus (RF) theory with FTP theory to explore relationships between adolescents' RF, their perceptions of parents' RF, and their FTP on school and professional career. A total of N = 347 adolescents participated in the study. Structural equation analyses showed that adolescents' promotion RF was positively related to FTP on school and professional career, whereas adolescents' prevention RF was negatively related to their FTP. Adolescents' perceptions of parent regulatory foci were related to their own regulatory foci. Specifically, when adolescents perceived that their parents stimulate them to take on challenges, they were more promotion focused and contemplated more strongly on their future school and career. Implications for FTP and RF theory, and child development and education are discussed.