ABSTRACT
According to Lewin (1938), change in future time perspective is one of the most fundamental facts of development. Differences in the behavior of children, adolescents, and adults are dependent variables of differences in extension and differentiation of future time perspective. From this point of view, Lewin (1939) emphasized a cognitive theory of behavior according to which the cognitive representation of the situation is the decisive variable in eliciting and directing responses (Baldwin, 1969; Nuttin, 1974). Lewin as well as Nuttin discriminated clearly between the cognitive structure of time perspective and its behavioral correlates on the one hand and on the other hand, the need structure or motivational system that may instigate thought or ideational processes or may become modified by the cognitive structure. The relationships between motivation and future time perspective are defined by these authors in terms of an interactive interpretation. An opposite trend is to be observed in approaches like that of Bergius(1957), Kelly (1955), and others pointing to the fact that the most valid criterion for the “motivational” character of a process is defined by its directedness toward the future. Hence it sounds reasonable to replace the label motivation by the name for its fundamental structure, that is, the anticipation of the future or directedness toward the future. The substitutional interpretations of the relationships between motivation and future time perspective may attract new followers according to the increasing trend toward “pure” cognitive theories of behavior. Bolles (1974) summarized this trend by stating that the problem of motivation is no longer of relevance for psychology as any variable that has been “motivational” before has its cognitive aspects. Therefore the behavioral formula for the late twentieth century would be: ‘cognitive processes – behavior’. No stimulus, no drive, no need are necessary, as “thought directs action” (Birch, Atkinson, & Bongort, 1974). From this point of view the contemporary trend in theorizing on the “internal” or “external” conditions of behavior asks for a reevaluation of the future time perspective construct in terms of its motivational or purely cognitive status. We try to contribute to this reevaluation by comparing the two opposite interpretations and by examining research findings, mainly coming from developmental psychology. We believe, however, that these findings have some relevance for the issue of motivational versus pure cognitive theories of behavior.
