The Ontological Perception of Time Scale: Assessing Meaning in Life from a Temporal Perspective

This study gathered psychometric evidence to expand validation of the Ontological Perception of Time Scale, an instrument developed to measure time perception as a dimension of meaning in life. Specifically, we assessed its factorial and convergent-discriminant validities and internal consistency (reliability and homogeneity). Participants were 488 young adults from João Pessoa, Brazil (65.2% female, 44.8% male; Mage = 27.4), who answered the Ontological Perception of Time Scale, the Meaning in Life Questionnaire, and demographic questions. Confirmatory factor analyses, including comparisons to alternative models, indicated preference for a three-factor model (Past, Present, and Future; e.g., adjusted goodness of fit = .91, comparative fit index = .95, RMSEA = .08), which showed evidence of convergent validity with presence of meaning (rmean = .44, p < .001). The factors showed acceptable reliability coefficients for research purpose (Past, Α = .64; Present, α = 0.74; and Future, α = 0.73). The Ontological Perception of Time Scale is a psychometrically adequate measure to assess the time perception from a logotherapy perspective.