Involuntary mental time travel and its effect on prospective teachers' situational intrinsic motivations

Recent cognitive psychological research has argued that involuntary mental time travel is an important individual difference variable that has the potential to affect an individual's motivation. However, this issue has not been empirically investigated in educational settings such as teacher education. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the possible effect of involuntary mental time travel on prospective teachers' situational intrinsic motivations in the classrooms during the period of a class hour. A total of 274 prospective teachers voluntarily participated in the study. Results showed that involuntary mental time travel into the past and into the future occurred in the classrooms even during the period of a class hour. The characteristics of the prospective teachers' involuntary memories/future images were evident. Most importantly, results revealed that the teaching-related positive future images significantly and positively affected the prospective teachers' situational intrinsic motivations regardless of the effects of their current situational intrinsic motivations regarding their classes.

Research Highlights
► Involuntary mental time travel into the past and into the future occurred in the classrooms even during the period of a class hour.
► The characteristics of the prospective teachers' involuntary memories/future images were evident.
► The teaching-related positive future images significantly and positively affected the prospective teachers' situational intrinsic motivations regardless of the effects of their current situational intrinsic motivations regarding their classes.