Time Perspective of Forced Migrants within the National Boundaries and Abroad

Aim. The aim is identification of differences in organisation of time perspective in forced migrants within the national boundaries and beyond the country under martial law in relation to prolonged psychological stress and steady changes in mental states. Methods. There were 136 young and middle-aged research participants: 59 forced migrants in Ukraine (Group 1) and 77 forced migrants staying abroad (Group 2). The methods used: “Time Perspective Inventory” (Zimbardo & Boyd, 1999); the scale “Time Competence” from the test determining an individual’s self-actualisation (Shostrom, 1964); the Freiburg Personality Inventory (FPI, Form В) (Fahrenberg, Hampel & Selg, 2010). Results. The Mann-Whitney U-test allowed establishing the advantage of Group 2 over Group 1 by the parameters: “negative past” (U =1781.00; p =.031); “hedonistic present” (U=1620.00; p=.004); “fatalistic present” (U=1560.00; p=.002), and also the advantage of Group 1 over Group 2 by the parameters: “neuroticism” (U = 1715.50; p = .013); “sociability” (U = 1464.50; p < .001); “openness” (U = 1277.00; p < .001); “extraversion” (U = 1458.50; p< .001). Conclusions. Forced migrants try to orientate themselves towards the future and the positive past. Having a high level of neuroticism and openness to the surrounding, forced migrants in the country under martial law are characterised by disrupted balance of time orientations, and also reduced time orientations towards the hedonistic present, towards negative memories and expectation of fatal changes in the situation. The balance of time orientations of forced migrants staying abroad is close to the level which corresponds to the state of psychological well-being.