Participant Self-Selection Biases as a Function of Individual Differences in Time Perspective

Individual differences in time perspective were predicted to determine when students sign-up for studies and how faithfully they meet the time obligations of research. As predicted, future oriented students initiated and completed their research participation sooner than did present oriented students, and females signed up sooner than did males. The additive effects of time perspective and gender strongly predicted sign-ups, with female futures signing up earliest and male presents signing up latest (Study 1). Time perspective styles also predicted participation in longitudinal research. Present-oriented students met time commitments of a multi-session diary study less reliably than did future-oriented students (Study 2). These results have implications for both research design and for daily coping.