Abstract

Why do some people focus their attention on thinking about the past? Why do others concentrate on present events and why do others think mainly about what is going to happen in the future? Previous research investigated the individual characteristics associated with a preferred "temporal focus" but the connection between the regulatory modes and the "temporal foci" have not yet been investigated. The present paper aims to address this issue by conducting a study with 259 participants. The results confirm the following hypotheses: 1) Individuals who are locomotion-oriented are focused on present and future dimensions. 2) Individuals who are assessment-oriented are focused on the past and tend to pay less attention to present events.