Alla K. Bolotova

This article describes research on the role of time perspective in a person’s choice of coping strategies in interpersonal conflicts. The interrelationship between different types of coping strategies (cognitive, emotional, and behavioral) and the orientation of time perspective are considered. P. G. Zimbardo’s technique, which defines the orientation of time perspective, and E. Heim’s technique, which is directed at exploring coping strategies, are used in our research. The sample consisted of 295 participants: 156 women and 139 men, with an average age of 32 years. The research shows that a future orientation is directly connected with the choice of cognitive and behavioral coping strategies in interpersonal conflicts, while an orientation to the negative past results in emotional coping strategies. A person’s orientation to the fatalistic present engenders retreat and avoidance of conflict resolution, which are nonadaptive behavioral strategies that include few coping techniques.

Cognitive behavior in interpersonal relations is always connected with time characteristics such as sequence, rhythm, and succession of actions. In our research we attempted to determine the role of time parameters in the development of the following social communications: (a) interpersonal relations, (b) communicative acts, and (c) the process of structuring social behavior. We intended to show the role of time in acquiring and mastering social contacts. In our research we outlined a number of methods for developing time competence and various conscious and unconscious ways to organize time and to create an atmosphere of understanding, acceptance, and trust in interpersonal nonverbal communication. The time characteristics of social behavior and its nonverbal manifestation can exert a positive influence on communicative activity and can determine time competence in communication. Ignoring time parameters in the self-realization and self-actualization of personality introduces a certain destructive element into the process of interpersonal relations; hence the necessity of teaching competence in communication arises. Teaching is carried out in the process of training and includes several stages: the introductory stage and the stages of intensification, integration, avoidance, and others. Thus, time management and the process of teaching time management allow one to discover time resources for the self-organization of one’s personality over a lifetime.