Exploring the Relationship Between Time Perspective and Emerging Adulthood Traits Among Young Adults in Relation to Work Experience

Introduction. The work aims to study the manifestations of time perspective and the traits of emerging adulthood, as well as their interrelationships in young people with and without work experience. The relevance of the study is explained by the current trend towards infantilization of young people, expressed in the increase in the average age of the beginning of professional and family life. The novelty of the work lies in the fact that the perspective of time and work experience are considered as the main predictors of increased manifestation of traits of emerging adulthood.

Objective. Examine the relationships between the temporal perspective of personality and emerging adulthood traits in youth with and without work experience.

Materials and Methods. In the course of the study, 47 people aged 18 to 25 years were interviewed, among whom 26 people had experience in professional activities and 21 people had no work experience. To achieve the goal of the study, the following techniques were used: the technique “Traits of emerging adulthood”, the technique “Level of infantilism expression”, the questionnaire “Time perspective of Zimbardo personality”, as well as the author’s questionnaire-questionnaire. The reliability of the results obtained is ensured by the use of statistical data processing methods.

Results. Young people without work experience were found to be more oriented towards the present with a fatalistic and hedonistic attitude toward it. They are also more prone to experimentation, self-directedness, and an increase in some traits of infantilism compared to young people with work experience. Statistically significant correlations were found between temporal orientations of personality and traits of maturing maturity, infantilism, which can change depending on the presence of work experience.

Discussion. The research confirms the existence of a trend of delayed adulthood among young people. The manifestation of traits of a more childish position of young people, such as self-directedness, experimentation, disordered behavior, infantilism, low indicators of work motivation can be explained by the imbalance of their time perspective. The orientation towards a fatalistic and hedonistic present demonstrated by young people may act as a mechanism of adaptation of young people in the conditions of uncertainty of their social position.

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