Affective forecasts of future positive events are tempered by consideration of details

Richard Wesp, Joshua Sandry, Anthony Prisco, Pamela Sarte

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

Forecasts of affect associated with future positive events tend to be overly optimistic. In 2 experiments we examined the influence of thinking either concretely or abstractly on ratings of anticipated enjoyment of a prototypically positive future activity. In 1 study we primed a lowlevel construal, and in 1 we provided details of the event. In both experiments, ratings for the positive future event were lower for participants who considered the task concretely than for those who were not primed or considered the activity abstractly. Findings suggested that priming a low-level construal and considering concrete details may lower overestimates of pleasure associated with future events.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)167-174
Number of pages8
JournalAmerican Journal of Psychology
Volume122
Issue number2
StatePublished - Jun 2009

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