Time Attitude in Iranian Adolescents: A Qualitative Study

Due to the effect of culture on the formation of time attitude, it is very important to examine the components of time attitude in Iran with its certain cultural-social conditions. Therefore, this investigation attempts to study time and time attitude conceptualization from the perspective of adolescents with a qualitative method, interview with focus group, and grounded theory approach. Participants in this study was 45 adolescents (23 boys and 22 girls) aging 15 to 17 years old with the average age of 16.20. Three focus groups were composed in male students school, and three focus groups were constituted in female students schools. Their responses regarding their perception of time were categorized in four categories of ‘hours’, ‘pressure and limitation’, ‘mental construct’, and ‘time as a metaphor’. The results of open and axial coding for past, present and future shows that this period of life in Iranian adolescents contains eight categories of positive future, negative future, hedonist present, negative present, futurist present, positive past, negative past, and past acceptance. Comparing with other findings, in general, time attitude is cultural based and cultural-social conditions affect time attitude adolescents’.