Introduction: An Inquiry Into the Concept of Future Orientation

Abstract

The ability to foresee and anticipate, to make plans for and organize future possibilities represents one of the most outstanding traits of man. This orientation ahead is more than an expression of the continuous effort toward a better adaptation between man and the world. The restless striving is just more than a drive for competence and display. This basic urge reflects also an effort to be ahead in time – a need to conquer the future. Man's unique ability to conceptualize time enables him to anticipate and organize future possibilities and thereby to bring effects of future time into the psychological present.