Time perspective and transcendental future thinking

Wessel van Beek

Antanas Kairys

pp. 73-86

in: Maciej Stolarski, Nicolas Fieulaine, Wessel van Beek (eds), Time perspective theory; review, research and application, Berlin, Springer, 2015

Abstract

Time perspective theory states that human behavior is motivated by one's ideas about the past, the present, and the future. But what about the extended future, life after death, separately discussed by John Boyd and Philip Zimbardo? In our chapter, we relate transcendental future thinking to the ideas about life after death in five major religions. We discuss terror management theory as a possible way to further understand and investigate the role of transcendental future thinking. We suggest a more elaborate view on transcendental future thinking and introduce an additional aspect on the other end of time's continuum: prenatal past. Our major conclusion is that more research from a broader perspective is needed.