Thinking versus doing: how congruency between cognitive and actional future orientation affects left-behind children’s life satisfaction

Millions of children are left behind in rural areas of China while their parents work in urban areas, placing them at heightened risk for poor mental health outcomes. Future orientation, comprising cognitive and actional dimensions, has been identified as a potential protective factor for vulnerable youth. However, the relationship between the congruence of these two dimensions and psychological adjustment remains unexplored among left-behind children. This study aimed to investigate both cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between the congruency of cognitive and actional future orientation with life satisfaction among Chinese left-behind children. A sample of 1,485 left-behind children (720 girls; mean age = 13.49 years) was recruited from rural areas in Henan and Sichuan provinces, China. A subset of 459 participants completed follow-up assessments one year later. Cognitive and actional future orientation were measured using the Questionnaire for Teenagers’ Future Orientation, and life satisfaction was assessed using the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Polynomial regression with response surface analysis was employed to examine both congruence and discrepancy effects. Over half (56.79%) of participants exhibited discrepancies between cognitive and actional future orientation. Response surface analysis revealed a significant linear relationship between congruence of cognitive and actional future orientation with life satisfaction, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. In contrast, a non-linear relationship emerged between discrepancy and life satisfaction: as incongruence increased, life satisfaction decreased. Notably, higher actional future orientation combined with lower cognitive future orientation was associated with greater life satisfaction than the reverse pattern. Longitudinal analyses further demonstrated that synchronous development of both dimensions predicted enhanced life satisfaction, while asynchronous development was associated with diminished well-being. These findings highlight the importance of considering both the magnitude and direction of discrepancies between cognitive and actional future orientation when examining psychological adjustment in left-behind children. The results suggest that interventions should focus not only on fostering future-oriented thinking but also on developing concrete action planning skills to promote life satisfaction among this vulnerable population.