Paper Title
Pragmatic prospection: Theory, research, and practice
Keywords
- Pragmatic Prospection
- Future-Oriented Thinking
- Planning
- Goal Setting
- Anticipated Emotions
- Adaptive Behavior
- Performance Challenges
- Simulated Outcomes
- Self-Protection
- Self-Enhancement
- Predictive Thinking
- Decision Making
- Action Preparation
- Optimistic Stage
- Realistic Stage
Journal
Research Impact Tools
Publication Info
Volume: 11 | Pages: 1-38
Published On
March, 2024
Downloads
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Abstract
Pragmatic prospection theory holds that people think about the future primarily to prepare for action. Toward that end, it is more important to predict upcoming choice points and performance challenges than to predict how things will turn out. Here we provide an overview of our research program on future-oriented thinking, emphasizing how the theory has grown and changed with incoming data. Pragmatic prospection often precedes in two steps, first an optimistic stage of envisioning desired goals, second a realistic stage of pondering how to get there. People think about the future much more than the past, and the most common type of such thought is planning. Planning facilitates reaching goals. People moralize the future for both self and others, irrationally calling for stronger penalties for future than past misdeeds. Simulated future outcomes are evaluated by anticipated emotions, and anticipated emotion has a stronger and more adaptive link to actual behavior than currently felt emotional states. Individuals who engage in more pragmatic prospection show multiple advantages. Some biases exist in prospection, such as self-protection against anticipated failure, and self-enhancing attitudes toward one’s own innovations.
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