The “Life Drawing” as a Measure of Time Perspective in Adulthood

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Abstract
As a measure of time perspective, a variation of the life graph was administered to forty-seven men and forty-seven women ranging from twenty-four to sixty years ( M age = 40.67). It was expected that age would be related positively to past versus present temporal dominance and lack of future extension of the life drawing. The effects of sex, work status, and geographic mobility were also assessed through log-linear analyses. Age was found to relate to past temporal dominance, particularly for men. Twelve month test-retest analyses of data from fifty-five respondents showed that both time perspective measures were reliable. Life changes in that interval appeared to precipitate movement from past to present temporal dominance. Temporal dominance also showed a relationship to behavioral observations made by interviewers at the first testing occasion. Of interest was the lack of support in the life drawings for age-stage theories of adult development in that the events depicted as markers had no relationship to age.