Future Time Orientation and Social Generativity among Emerging Adults from Serbia: The Mediating Role of Life Project

This study investigated the association between individuals’ psychological future and generativity during emerging adulthood (N = 1,570), proposing a model in which Future Time Orientation influences Social Generativity indirectly through engagement in Life Project. The results revealed that individuals’ orientation toward the future was associated with generative tendencies; however, this association was specific to the subdimension of future orientation reflecting the extent to which future considerations guide present decisions and behaviors, while the other one reflecting the extension of the future was found to be non-significant. Furthermore, this relationship was mediated by involvement in life project, defined as the translation of intentions into concrete, goal-directed actions. Overall, the findings suggest that conceiving of the future as a domain for purposeful action, rather than passive anticipation, appears pivotal in transforming abstract aspirations into concrete, value-consistent goals that further foster socially oriented generativity.