Qualities of social relationships as mediators of the relationship between future perceptions and health

Objectives: Foreshortened future perceptions relate to higher mental and physical morbidity. However, socioemotional selectivity theory (SST) maintains that psychological well-being improves as future perceptions narrow due to growing tendency to prioritize meaningful goals and close relationships. The objective of this study was to reconcile this contradiction by examining a model in which the focus on close relationships suppresses the direct relationship between narrow future perceptions and physical/mental morbidity. Method: Community-dwelling older adults (N = 249, mean age = 75.60, SD = 7.54) recruited through social clubs and day centers were interviewed at home. They filled self-report questionnaires measuring future time perspective, subjective nearness to death, positivity of relationships with others and inclusion of others in the self, while rating several physical/mental health indices. A structural equation modeling analysis tested direct and indirect effects. Results: Narrow future perceptions related to higher mental (|β| ranged.28 to.47, p <.001) and physical morbidity (|β| ranged.37 to.45, p <.001) and, surprisingly, also to lower positivity of close relationships (|β| ranged.24 to.31, p <.01) and less inclusion of others (|β| ranged.17 to.21, p <.01). Both social indices mediated the relationship with lower physical health, while positivity of close relationships also mediated the relationship with psychological distress. Conclusion: The findings challenge SST assumptions by underscoring the negative effects of narrow future perceptions on social relationship, making the latter a mediator rather than suppressor in the link between future perceptions and physical/mental morbidity. The findings should be viewed in light of the study’s limitations, including convenience sampling and cross-sectional design.