Understanding future self-continuity and intertemporal decision-making among preservice language teachers
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65956/ltlt.2026.45Keywords:
future self-continuity, self-connectedness, preservice teachers, intertemporal choiceAbstract
Teachers’ future self-continuity refers to the subjective sense of connectedness between their present self and mental presentations of their future self. While prior research has established the associations between future self-continuity and agency, motivation to change, and academic outcomes, its role in shaping teachers’ orientation towards delayed but larger rewards, as opposed to immediate but less favourable gains, remains inconclusive. This basic qualitative research, drawing on the concept of future self-continuity (Hershfield, 2011), seeks to examine such perceived connectedness and its contribution to intertemporal decision-making. The data consisted of written responses from 44 second-year preservice English language teachers (PSTs) at a public university in southern Vietnam. The findings revealed that psychological connectedness between present and future selves of the PSTs took the forms of continuity in being and continuity in becoming. While the former emphasises the future self as an extension of the present self, the latter highlights an ongoing process of self-development. Future self-continuity was reported to shape the PSTs’ preference for delayed, larger rewards since it functioned as an orientational and motivational resource and supported emotional regulation. These findings illustrate the need for educators to engage the PSTs in episodic future thinking through interventions that enable them to experience vivid and realistic professional futures.
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The data supporting the findings of this study are currently not publicly available because an appropriate repository for data access has not yet been established. However, the data can be made available at a later stage.
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