Time Attitude, Delayed Gratification and Job Satisfaction of Marine Technical Employees
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65166/baysv006Keywords:
time attitude, delayed gratification, job satisfaction, marine technical employees, maritime industry, offshore workers, self-regulation, cross-sectional studyAbstract
The maritime industry places exceptional psychological demands on marine technical employees, who operate in high-risk, time-sensitive environments characterized by extended rotations and social isolation. While external factors influencing job satisfaction have been extensively studied, the internal psychological mechanisms remain underexplored. This cross-sectional study examined the relationships among time attitude, delayed gratification, and job satisfaction in a sample of 392 marine technical employees recruited from two companies in Singapore and Malaysia. Participants completed the Adolescent and Adult Time Inventory—Time Attitudes Scale (AATI-TA), the Delay of Gratification Questionnaire (DoGQ), and the Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS). Results indicated that time attitude dimensions exhibited a balanced pattern, with positive dimensions above the median and negative dimensions at moderate levels. Delay of gratification significantly predicted job satisfaction (β = .223, p < .001), while Present Positive time attitude emerged as the only temporal dimension directly associated with job satisfaction (β = .212, p = .010). Past Negative time attitude predicted lower delay of gratification (β = −.143, p = .034). Contextual factors—particularly work location, work type, and working language—significantly influenced time attitude dimensions, whereas basic demographic characteristics showed limited effects. The findings suggest that present-moment positive engagement and self-regulatory capacity may function as psychological resources supporting job satisfaction in demanding technical occupations. A targeted psychological intervention program is proposed to enhance present-positive orientation and delayed gratification among marine technical personnel.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Wang Min (Author)
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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