Time Perspective and Longitudinal Tests of a Cognitive Model of Satisfaction

It was hypothesized that a cognitive model of satisfaction would make more accurate predictions when individuals had greater time and opportunity to integrate the relevant cognitions into their belief systems. In Experiment 1, 52 men and women college students listed outcomes they might obtain during their lifetimes, as well as outcomes which might occur in a week, in a month, and in a year. Within each time perspective, the valence and subjective probability of occurrence of each outcome was measured. Overall satisfaction with each set of outcomes was also measured. As hypothesized, the model's satisfaction predictions for yearly and life outcomes was significantly better than its predictions for weekly and monthly outcomes. A second experiment was conducted in which the list of outcomes remained constant for each S while the opportunity for cognitive integration varied. Forty students listed possible course outcomes, scaled the valence and subjective probability of obtaining each outcome, and then scaled satisfaction. The same cognitions were rerated by the students much later in the semester when they had had more opportunity to integrate the relevant cognitions. As predicted, the accuracy of the model increased significantly from the initial to the final measurement.