Features of the Factor Structure of the Time Perspective and
Components of the Orientation of Students of a Transport University
with Different Levels of Academic Productivity
A. Pavlova
Ural State University of Railway Transport, Ekaterinburg, Russia
Keywords: Time perspective, attitudes of self-realization in life, organization of the future in the minds of students of
transport areas of training, semantic structuring of the future.
Abstract: In the context of the technological and social changes taking place in the transport industry, young people
are forming new standards for organizing future activities. In this context, the study of the changes taking
place in the minds of students studying at a transport university acquires special acuteness. From a
psychological standpoint, attitudes towards self-realization in future professional activity are formed in
students at the level of attitude to time, components of personality self-awareness - self-esteem and the level
of aspirations, as well as meaningful orientations and are manifested in actual educational and professional
activities. In an empirical study on a sample population of students in transport directions of training with
different levels of academic productivity, differences were identified and the factor structure was compared
as a reflection of such attitudes, combining indicators of time perspective, self-awareness and directional
components.
1 INTRODUCTION
The problem of improving the quality of
professional training of specialists for the transport
industry is associated with the priority areas of the
state in the field of technological and economic
superiority of the transport industry on the basis of
improving the quality of training of human
resources. In the context of social changes taking
place in Russia, when new standards of life are
being formed in people, new meanings and values
are acquired, the study of the components of
attitudes towards self-realization in professional
activity and their transformations becomes an urgent
problem.
A person's attitude to time and a person's idea of
himself in time include the ability to set real time
goals, to adequately assess time boundaries in
changing life circumstances. Numerous social
moments of the past, present and future, experienced
by the subject through the system of personal
meanings, allow him to correlate his capabilities and
goals, distribute life events in terms of importance
for a given period of time and build realistic plans
for the future. Looking to the future allows a person
to correctly understand the values of the present, to
preserve a significant event from the past for the
sake of the future, to imagine the future as a realized
goal.
In the context of technological and social
transformations in the transport industry, young
people are developing new standards for organizing
future activities. In this context, the study of the
changes taking place in the minds of students
studying at a transport university acquires special
acuteness. In general, in theoretical terms, it is
argued that the orderliness of the picture of the
future provides a high level of motivational
involvement and academic productivity of students
at the stage of professional training (Lewin, 1951;
Gorman, 1977; Zimbardo, 2005; Zimbardo, 2004;
Zimbardo, 1999; Harber, 2003; Munnishs, 1993;
Valle, 1989). However, there is little concrete
empirical evidence for this in the transport industry.
Thus, contradictions arise between:
– the need for scientifically grounded ideas
about the structural features of the time perspective
and directional components in subjects with
different levels of academic productivity and a lack
Pavlova, A.
Features of the Factor Structure of the Time Perspective and Components of the Orientation of Students of a Transport University with Different Levels of Academic Productivity.
DOI: 10.5220/0011587400003527
In Proceedings of the 1st International Scientific and Practical Conference on Transport: Logistics, Construction, Maintenance, Management (TLC2M 2022), pages 369-375
ISBN: 978-989-758-606-4
Copyright
c
 2023 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. Under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
369

of theoretical and empirical studies of their
relationship;
– the need of organizations in the transport
industry for targeted training of workers and
managers who are able to correlate their capabilities
and goals, to carry out operational and long-term
planning of activities, and the lack of a scientifically
grounded system for assessing and developing a
time perspective in the context of a professional
orientation.
In this regard, the problem arises of insufficient
theoretical concepts and empirical data on the
structural features of the organization of the future in
the minds of students in transport directions of
training. Thus, the study of the structural features of
the time perspective and the components of the
orientation of students with different levels of
academic productivity can become an empirical
basis for developing a system for supporting the
training of specialists for the transport industry in
accordance with the new standards for organizing
future activities.
2 MATERIALS AND METHODS
2.1 Methodological Basis of the
Research
As a methodological basis for the study, the
principle of a systems approach (Lomov B.F.) in
psychology, understanding of the psyche as a
complex system of interrelated functions, processes,
states (Balin V.D., Vekker L.M., Karpov A.V.,
Merlin V.S., Platonov K.K.), the subjective
approach (Rubinstein S.L., Brushlinsky A.V.).
2.2 The Theoretical Basis of the
Research
The theoretical basis of the research was formed by
F. Zimbardo's concept of time perspective, K.
Levin's field theory and model of living space, and
A. N. Leontyev's activity approach.
2.3 Research Methods
Theoretical study and analysis of the works of
domestic and foreign authors on the problem of
professional orientation, time perspective and their
relationship (Lewin, 1951; Gorman, 1977;
Zimbardo, 2005; Zimbardo, 2004; Zimbardo, 1999;
Harber, 2003; Munnishs, 1993; Valle, 1989). A set
of methods of psychological diagnostics: the method
of time perspective of Zimbardo F. (modified by O.
Mitina, E. Sokolova, A. Syrtsova), the test “Life-
meaning orientations” (Leontiev D.A.), the method
“The level of correlation of "values" and
"accessibility" in various spheres of life” (Fantalova
EB), the test “Finding a quantitative expression of
the level of self-esteem” (Budassi SA), the method
“Schwarzlander motor test”.
Mathematical and statistical processing of
psychodiagnostic data was carried out using the
statistical software packages SPSS and Statistica. To
check the correspondence of the distribution of
indicators to the theoretical normal, the
Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used. For
comparative analysis, Student's t-test was used. To
identify differences in the structure of relationships,
exploratory factor analysis using the principal
component analysis was used.
2.4 Experimental Research Base
The study involved second-year students of the
Electromechanical Faculty of the Ural State
University of Railways (n = 209).
3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The first hypothesis was the assumption that there
are significant differences between students with
different levels of academic productivity in terms of
time perspective, life-meaning orientations, level of
aspirations and the ratio of value and accessibility of
values.
Academic productivity was measured by
indicators of academic performance and activity in
extracurricular activities (participation in scientific
and sports events). Accordingly, the group with high
academic productivity included students studying
mainly for marks “good” and “excellent”,
systematically participating in scientific and sports
events, showing interest in the events of the
university. The group with low academic
productivity included students with no interest in
university events, with predominantly satisfactory
grades and academic debt.
After collecting and processing empirical data in
order to select the methods of statistical processing,
the normal distribution was checked using the
Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. The results are shown in
Table 1.
Of the thirteen measurements, only two have a
distribution that is statistically significantly different
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from the normal one, which makes it possible to
apply parametric criteria for further calculations. To
compare students with high and low levels of
academic productivity in terms of time perspective,
life-meaning orientations, level of aspirations and
the ratio of value and accessibility of values, the
Student's t-test was used. The comparison results are
shown in Table 2.
Statistically significantly higher results on the
scale “Life performance or satisfaction with self-
realization” were obtained among students with a
high level of academic productivity (Xav = 27.02).
Students with a low level of academic productivity
have lower indicators (Xav = 22.97), which may
indicate dissatisfaction with the part of life they have
lived. The average results obtained by the Budassi
personality self-assessment method among students
with a high level of academic productivity are
significantly higher than among students with a low
level of academic productivity (Xav = 0.3 and Xav =
0.03, respectively). Low indicators according to this
method mean a fuzzy and undifferentiated idea of a
person about his “ideal I” and “real I”, that is,
students with a high level of academic productivity
have higher self-esteem and, in general, more
adequate. Thus, the assumption that the levels of the
severity of the temporal perspective and components
of the orientation of the personality in students with
different levels of academic productivity differ, was
confirmed only on two scales “Life efficiency” and
“Personality self-esteem”.
Differences in the level of expression of
empirical indicators are not the only empirical
criterion for differences; it is necessary to assess the
differences in the structure of relationships between
indicators. The relationship between the indicators
can be nonlinear, and besides, we were more
interested not in the relationships themselves and
their number, but in the grouping of these
relationships, therefore, to identify the structure of
the relationships of the variables, a factor analysis
was carried out. Based on the essence of factor
analysis and the empirical data obtained, we assume
that the general attitudes of self-realization in life,
which will be factors, are behind the
interconnections of the substructures of orientation,
temporal orientations and personality structures. The
academic productivity of students is a reflection of
their attitudes at the level of activity, which allows
us to put forward the following empirical
hypothesis. It is assumed that if the attitudes of
students with different levels of academic
productivity differ, then the factor structure of these
groups should also differ.
Table 1: Checking the normal distribution of features using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test.
Тhe test "Life-meaning
orientations" (Leontiev D.A.)
Тhe method of time perspective
of Zimbardo F. (modified by O.
Mitina, E. Sokolova, A.
Syrtsova)
Test "Finding a quantitative expression of the level of self-esteem"
(
Budassi SA
)
.
Schwarzlander motor test The method “ The level of correlation of "values" and "accessibilit
y
" in various s
p
heres of life”
Goals in life Life process Result of life Locus of control - I Locus of Control - Life
N
egative past
The hedonistic present Future Positive past Fatalistic present
Kolmogorov-
Smirnov Z
statistics
0,79 0,65 1,06 0,81 1,52 0,79 0,81 1,07 0,93 0,81 0,59 1,39 0,82
Asymptotic
significance (two-
sided
)
0,52 0,73 0,19 0,48 0,019 0,53 0,54 0,23 0,32 0,59 0,83 0,03 0,47
Features of the Factor Structure of the Time Perspective and Components of the Orientation of Students of a Transport University with
Different Levels of Academic Productivity
371

Table 2: Significance of differences among students with different levels of academic productivity according to Student's t-
test.
Variables t criterion
Average indicators
Students with a high
level of academic
p
roductivit
y
Students with low level
of academic productivity
Тhe test “Life-
meaning orientations”
(Leontiev D.A.)
Goals in life -0,215 31,28 31,71
Life
p
rocess 0,872 27,87 27,33
Result of life 2,213* 27,02 22,97
Locus of control - I 0,381 21,32 20,78
Locus of Control - Life 0,311 29,61 27,12
Тhe method of time
perspective of
Zimbardo F.
(modified by O.
Mitina, E. Sokolova,
A. Syrtsova)
Negative past -0,454 30,83 32,53
The hedonistic
p
resent 1,322 56,89 54,21
Future -1,132 44,98 47,19
Positive
p
ast -0,395 32,53 33,23
Fatalistic present -0,532 23,88 25,02
The test “Finding a quantitative expression of the
level of self-esteem”
(
Budassi SA
)
2,412* 0,36 0,08
The method “Schwarzlander motor test” -1,74 -0,32 0,41
The method “The level of correlation of "values" and
"accessibility" in various spheres of life ”(Fantalova
EB
)
-0,623 37,45 39,54
Note: * - the differences are significant (p <0.05).
Table 3: Total explained variance in students with high level of academic productivity.
Variables
Initial eigenvalues Sums of squares of rotational loads
Total % Dispersion Cumulative % Total % Dispersion Cumulative %
1 3,767 28,977 28,977 3,322 25,552 25,552
2 2,731 21,008 49,985 2,218 17,062 42,614
3 1,800 13,845 63,830 2,083 16,020 58,634
4 1,136 8,742 72,572 1,812 13,939 72,572
3.1 Description of the Results of Factor
Analysis in the First Group of
Students with a High Level of
Academic Productivity (N = 99)
The criterion assessment shows that the value of the
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) sample adequacy
measure demonstrates a satisfactory sampling
adequacy for factor analysis (KMO = 0.654).
Bartlett's sphericity criterion shows a statistically
significant result (178.544, p <0.01): the correlations
between the variables differ significantly from 0.
Thus, if the factorial model converges, then it can be
statistically trusted.
As a result of factor analysis in a group of
students with a high level of academic productivity,
four factors with eigenvalues greater than one were
extracted, which explain 72.5% of the aggregate
(total) variance (table 3).
Table 4 shows the transformed factor loadings
matrix after rotation.
The first factor among students with a high level
of academic productivity can be interpreted as “The
meaningfulness of life”, since this factor has
collected variables that describe a person's life-
meaning orientations (belief in freedom of choice,
the desire to build their life in accordance with their
goals, the presence of life goals, satisfaction
emotional richness of life).
The second factor can be interpreted as a “Trans-
perspective of life,” since this factor includes
variables that are associated with time (nostalgic
attitude towards the past, healthy orientation towards
the future and carefree attitude towards the present).
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Table 4: Factor loadings matrix for students with a high level of academic productivity after rotation.
Variables
12 3 4
Life process 0,872 – – –
Result of life 0,845 – – –
Locus of control - I 0,792 – – –
Goals in life 0,740 – – –
Positive past – 0,849 – –
Future
–
0,827
–
–
Negative past – – 0,802 –
Fatalistic present -0,482 – 0,695 –
The level of claims the method of “Schwarzlander motor test” – – 0,690 –
Locus of Control - Life – – – 0,754
The hedonistic present – 0,560 – 0,668
The test “Finding a quantitative expression of the level of self-esteem”
(
Budassi SA
)
– – -0,489 -0,631
The method “The level of correlation of "values" and "accessibility" in various
spheres of life ”(Fantalova EB)
– – – 0,460
The third factor collected variables that describe
a negative assessment of one's past, a belief that the
current situation should be perceived as inevitable,
and low self-esteem. These variables can be
interpreted as “Perception of the training situation”.
The fourth factor can be interpreted as
“Mismatch between the motivational-need sphere
and the perception of time”, since the variables
associated with this phenomenon describe the belief
that a person is given control over his life, freely
make decisions and embody them, a carefree attitude
to the present against the background mismatch in
the motivational-need sphere.
3.2 Description of the Results of Factor
Analysis in the Second Group of
Tested Students with a Low Level
of Academic Productivity (N = 110)
The value of the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO)
measure of sample adequacy demonstrates the
acceptable adequacy of the sample for factor
analysis (KMO = 0.723). Bartlett's sphericity test
shows a statistically significant result (156.883, p
<0.05): the correlations between the variables differ
significantly from zero.
As a result of factor analysis in a group of
students with a low level of academic productivity,
three factors with eigenvalues greater than one were
extracted, which explain 61.5% of the aggregate
(total) variance (table 5). Table 6 shows the
transformed factor loadings matrix after rotation.
The first factor can be interpreted as “The
meaningfulness of life”, since this factor collected
variables that describe satisfaction with the life
process, a positive assessment of the past and
motivation for the future, the belief that a person is
given control over his life, freely make decisions and
implement them.
The second factor can be interpreted as
“Perception of the training situation”, since the
variables associated with this phenomenon describe
belief in one's ability to control events in one's own
life, positive self-esteem, a carefree attitude towards
the present, and a positive attitude towards the past.
The third factor collected variables describing
the presence of goals in life, the mismatch in the
motivational-need sphere, and the conviction that the
future is not predetermined and can be influenced by
one's own actions. These variables can be interpreted
as “Discrepancy between the motivational-need
sphere and the perception of time”.
Thus, the factors in the two groups have a similar
orientation, but different content load, respectively, a
different factor structure. The first factor in both
groups of subjects includes variables related to life-
meaning orientations and variables of temporal
perspective. But these variables have different
meanings. For students with a high level of
academic productivity, the meaningfulness of life is
associated more with the present, while for students
with a low level of academic productivity;
meaningfulness is associated with the future.
Features of the Factor Structure of the Time Perspective and Components of the Orientation of Students of a Transport University with
Different Levels of Academic Productivity
373

Table 5: Total variance explained in students with low level of academic productivity.
Variables
Initial eigenvalues Sums of squares of rotational loads
Total % Dis
p
ersion Cumulative % Total % Dis
p
ersion Cumulative %
1 4,685 36,039 36,039 4,290 33,001 33,001
2 2,092 16,089 52,128 2,095 16,117 49,118
3 1,214 9,338 61,466 1,605 12,349 61,466
Table 6: Rotated component matrix in students with low level of academic productivity.
Variables
12 3
Locus of Control - Life 0,885 – –
Result of life 0,859
–
–
Life
p
rocess 0,769
–
–
Goals in life 0,703 – 0,511
Negative past -0,703 – –
Locus of control - I 0,696 0,440
–
Future 0,423 – –
The test “Finding a quantitative expression of the level of self-
esteem”
(
Budassi SA
)
– 0,807 –
The hedonistic present – 0,786
Positive past – 0,591
The method “The level of correlation of "values" and "accessibility"
in various s
p
heres of life ”
(
Fantalova EB
)
– – 0,842
Fatalistic
p
resent -0,524
–
-0,590
The level of claims the method of “Schwarzlander motor test”
–
–
–
The second factor in the first group of subjects
collected variables of time perspective. This may
indicate that students with a high level of academic
productivity live in real time, perceive the past as
inevitable, look positively into the future and
adequately assess their present. In the second group
of subjects, this factor does not stand out.
The third factor in the first group of subjects and
the second factor in the second group of subjects
refer to the perception of oneself in a situation of
professional training. Students with a high level of
academic productivity, due to a negative perception
of past events and a high level of aspirations in the
present, have a rather low self-esteem, perceive the
situation of professional training as requiring efforts
from them. Students with low levels of academic
productivity have positive self-esteem, have a
positive attitude towards the present, show passivity,
and do not feel anxious about the future.
This is the most significant contradiction in the
detected installations. We assume that academically
unproductive students do not directly associate the
situation of professional training with future
professional and career success; they believe
(perhaps illusory) in their ability to control future
events regardless of the past. Therefore, they are not
inclined to associate future professional success with
current academic performance.
A group of students with a negative perception of
the past may have faced failures in the past, but at
the same time their level of aspirations has not been
reduced, which cannot yet be realized in direct
professional activity. Therefore, academic
achievements are viewed by them as the potential
for future professional success, which contributes to
increasing motivation to achieve them. Such an
explanation, of course, requires a separate empirical
test.
The fourth factor in the first group of subjects
and the third factor in the second group of subjects
include variables that may relate to the mismatch
between the motivational-need sphere and the
perception of time. Thus, among students with a
high level of academic productivity, the conviction
that a person is given control over his life against the
background of a carefree attitude towards the present
leads to a mismatch in the perception of time and the
motivational-personal sphere. In students with a low
level of academic productivity, the mismatch of the
motivational-need sphere may be the result of a
poorly structured future.
Thus, the assumption that the general attitudes of
self-realization in life are behind the
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interconnections of substructures of direction,
temporal orientations and personality structures has
been confirmed. Also, the factor structure of
students with different levels of academic
productivity differs; accordingly, the attitudes,
despite similar components, are meaningfully
combined into different structural patterns.
4 CONCLUSIONS
Of course, the interconnection of time perspective
with personal parameters and even individual
characteristics takes place (Zimbardo, 1999; Harber,
2003). A balance between multidirectional attitudes
is necessary for a person to function adequately in
the present, which allows her to avoid fatalism, not
to fall into the trap of hedonism or unrealistic
daydreaming (Zimbardo, 2004). It should be
remembered that behavior in the present is
essentially determined not only by the past (for
example, psychological trauma according to Z.
Freud), but also by the future - goals, tasks, plans,
etc. (Zimbardo, 2005). The subjective experience of
the experience of time (Gorman, 1977), possibly,
leads to the emergence of a new personal construct –
the temporal trans-perspective (Lewin, 1951), which
qualitatively changes the process of self-realization.
It can be assumed that attitudes towards self-
realization are a complex of interrelationships
between personal characteristics and temporal
perspective, and are manifested in different variants
of activity and effectiveness. The presented study
partly confirms this point of view and correlates
with the results of other studies at the stage of
professional training (Zavodchikov, 2018; Zeer,
2017). Statistically significant differences in groups
of students with different levels of academic
productivity were found in the level of self-esteem
and experience of the effectiveness of life, but not in
time perspectives. At the same time, factor analysis
shows the similarity of the structures of
interrelationships in time perspective, life-meaning
orientations, personality characteristics and
satisfaction of needs. They are similar, but not the
same. A meaningful interpretation of the factors
allows us to describe the difference in the behavior
of students with low and high levels of academic
productivity. On the one hand, this contributes to the
development of the concept of time perspective and
socio-psychological attitudes, their role in the
regulation of actual activity. On the other hand, in
practical terms, the research results can become the
basis for developing a program to improve the
academic productivity of students based on the
semantic structuring of the future.
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