Project supported by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia – FCT (Project Nº SFRH/BD/33648/2009) Victor E.C. Ortuño 1,3, Maria Paula Paixão 1,4 & Isabel N. Janeiro 2,5 1 Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Coimbra, Portugal 2 Faculty of Psychology, University of Lisbon, Portugal 3 //

A motivational object TodayTomorrowA week fowardAnd so on…

A motivational object TodayTomorrowA week fowardAnd so on… The perceived psychological distance between the present moment and a determined motivational object located in the past or the future. Lens, Simons & Dewitte, 2002

353 participants Mostly (77.8%) Psychology College students (Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Coimbra, Portugal) 290 (82.2%) are female and 63 (17.8%) are male Ages between 17 and 61 years old (M = 20.21; SD = 5.30).

The inventory consists of 14 items (two of which are control), designed in Guttman scale of 7 points, which are composed of statements located in the psychological past or future The response options The response options are: 2 months, 6 months, 1 year, 3 years, 5 years, 10 years and 20 years or more Includes two dimensions related with how far in the future (Future Temporal Extension) or in the past (Past Temporal Extension) the individuals' motivational objects are located

All TEIC items were developed without any affective valence, in order to avoid possible biases concerning positive or negative events existing in the individuals' psychological past or/and future Items examples (translated from the original Portuguese items): «I have the habit of thinking how my life is going to be in the next…» «Regarding my profession, I know where I want to be in the next…» «I still have present in my mind people with whom I spent some time in the last…» «It´s usual for me to make plans or projects for the next…» (Ortuño, Paixão & Janeiro, 2011)

In the Past Temporal Extension significant differences were found (p <.05), male participants presented the highest values (M Male = vs. M Female = 16.85) In the Future Temporal Extension, no significant differences were found (p =.22), still the female participants presented the most highest values in this temporal dimension (M Female = vs. M Male = 21.11).

The EFA revealed three unique factors: Past Temporal Extension (explained variance = 30.77%, 6 items, α =.83) Future Temporal Extension (explained variance = 14.99%, 4 items, α =.70) Future Work Temporal Extension (explained variance = 9.93%, 2 items, α =.41) The total model explains 55.69% of the total variance.

X 2 (p) (.001) X 2 /df2.09 CFI.95 PCFI.72 GFI.95 PGFI.61 NFI.91 RMSEA.06

Regarding the EFA, the model revealed three unique factors The items factor loadings are very high, ranging from.59 to.86 in its respective factor None of items load simultaneously in two or more factor above the.30 value The items communalities are also very high, showing values between.41 and.71

Regarding the CFA, the model presented an acceptable fit in several indices As expected, the two main components (Future and Past Extensions) were moderately correlated. We believe that the cognitive processes of thinking too far away either for the future or the past can be related.

The evidence collected allows us to suggest the TEIC as a valid measure for investigators studying Temporal Extension and its overall impact on motivation and behaviour Still, the addition of a few more items could be an possible solution to address some psychometrical problems with the Future Labor subscale When designing this instrument, one of our main goals was to develop a measure which was easy to use, score and interpret.

Project supported by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia – FCT (Project Nº SFRH/BD/33648/2009) Victor E.C. Ortuño 1,3, Maria Paula Paixão 1,4 & Isabel N. Janeiro 2,5 1 Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Coimbra, Portugal 2 Faculty of Psychology, University of Lisbon, Portugal 3 //