Duffy, Jessica and Cole, Scott ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8176-283X (2020) Functions of spontaneous and voluntary future thinking: Evidence from subjective ratings. Psychological Research.

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Abstract

Future thinking is defined as the ability to withdraw from reality and mentally project oneself into the future. The primary aim of the present study was to examine whether functions of future thoughts differed depending on their mode of elicitation (spontaneous or voluntary) and an attribute of goal-relatedness (selected-goal-related or selected-goal-unrelated). After producing spontaneous and voluntary future thoughts in a laboratory paradigm, participants provided ratings on four proposed functions of future thinking (self, directive, social and emotional regulation). Findings showed that spontaneous and voluntary future thoughts were rated similarly on all functions except the directive function, which was particularly relevant to spontaneous future thoughts. Future thoughts classed as goal-related (selected-goal-related) were rated higher across all functions, and there was largely no interaction between mode of elicitation and goal-relatedness. A higher proportion of spontaneous future thoughts were selected-goal-related compared with voluntary future thoughts. In general, these results indicate that future thinking has significant roles across affective, behavioural, self and social functions, and supports theoretical views that implicate spontaneous future thought in goal-directed cognition and behaviour.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	“This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Psychological Research. The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-020-01338-9”.
Status:	Published
DOI:	10.1007/s00426-020-01338-9
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology > BF180-198.7 Experimental psychology B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology > BF309-499 Consciousness. Cognition. Memory B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology > BF501-505 Motivation B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology > BF511-593 Affection. Feeling. Emotion
School/Department:	School of Education, Language and Psychology
URI:	https://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/4533

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