The motivating function of thinking about the future: expectations versus fantasies.

Full Abstract

Two forms of thinking about the future are distinguished:
expectations versus fantasies. Positive expectations (judging a desired future as likely) predicted high effort and successful performance, but the reverse was true for positive fantasies (experiencing one's thoughts and mental images about a desired future positively). Participants were graduates looking for a job (Study 1), students with a crush on a peer of the opposite sex (Study 2), undergraduates anticipating an exam (Study 3), and patients undergoing hip-replacement surgery (Study 4). Effort and performance were measured weeks or months (up to 2 years) after expectations and fantasies had been assessed. Implications for the self-regulation of effort and performance are discussed.

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Author information

Author/s: Oettingen, Gabriele (G); Mayer, Doris (D);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, New York University, New York 10003, USA. gabriele.oettingen(-atsign-)nyu.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Journal of personality and social psychology (J Pers Soc Psychol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2002-Nov; vol 83 (issue 5) : pp 1198-212

Dates: Created 2002/11/05; Completed 2003/02/21; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 12416922, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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