ArticlePDF Available

Mental Contrasting of Future and Reality: Managing the Demands of Everyday Life in Health Care Professionals

Authors:

Abstract and Figures

Mental contrasting of a desired future with present reality leads to expectancy-dependent goal commitments, whereas focusing on the desired future only makes people commit to goals regardless of their high or low expectations for success. In the present brief intervention we randomly assigned middle-level managers ( N = 52) to two conditions. Participants in one condition were taught to use mental contrasting regarding their everyday concerns, while participants in the other condition were taught to indulge. Two weeks later, participants in the mental-contrasting condition reported to have fared better in managing their time and decision making during everyday life than those in the indulging condition. By helping people to set expectancy-dependent goals, teaching the metacognitive strategy of mental contrasting can be a cost- and time-effective tool to help people manage the demands of their everyday life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Content may be subject to copyright.
Original Article
Mental Contrasting of Future
and Reality
Managing the Demands of Everyday Life
in Health Care Professionals
Gabriele Oettingen,
1,2
Doris Mayer,
2
and Babette Brinkmann
3
1
Department of Psychology, New York University, NY, USA,
2
Department of Psychology, University of
Hamburg, Germany,
3
Department of Psychology, University of Heidelberg, Germany
Abstract. Mental contrasting of a desired future with present reality leads to expectancy-dependent goal commitments, whereas focusing on the
desired future only makes people commit to goals regardless of their high or low expectations for success. In the present brief intervention we
randomly assigned middle-level managers (N= 52) to two conditions. Participants in one condition were taught to use mental contrasting
regarding their everyday concerns, while participants in the other condition were taught to indulge. Two weeks later, participants in the mental-
contrasting condition reported to have fared better in managing their time and decision making during everyday life than those in the indulging
condition. By helping people to set expectancy-dependent goals, teaching the metacognitive strategy of mental contrasting can be a cost- and
time-effective tool to help people manage the demands of their everyday life.
Keywords: motivation, mental contrasting, goals, self-regulation, time management, health care professionals, thinking about the future
People commit to goals that are feasible and desirable
(Ajzen, 1991; Atkinson, 1957; Bandura, 1997; Gollwitzer,
1990; Locke & Latham, 2002; meta-analysis by Klein,
Wesson, Hollenbeck, & Alge, 1999). Whether or not a goal
is desirable in turn depends on its short- and long-term con-
sequences, whether or not a goal is feasible relies on judg-
ments about future events and behaviors (Heckhausen,
1977). These judgments may refer to being able to perform
goal-directed behaviors (i.e., self-efficacy expectations;
Bandura, 1997), to outcomes of goal-directed behaviors
(i.e., outcome expectations; Bandura, 1997; instrumentality
beliefs, Vroom, 1964), and to specific outcomes (i.e., gen-
eral expectations; Oettingen & Mayer, 2002). Desirability
and feasibility not only affect the strength of goal commit-
ment, but also the strength of subsequent goal striving
(Bandura, 1997; Klinger, 1975; Latham & Locke, 2007).
Self-regulation approaches to goal pursuit (summary by
Oettingen & Gollwitzer, 2001) examine the processes by
which desirability and feasibility translate into goal attain-
ment. These processes explain why high desirability and
feasibility beliefs do not guarantee the emergence of strong
goal commitments, and why strong goal commitments do
not guarantee effective goal striving. They differentiate
between self-regulation strategies that create strong goal
commitments versus those that translate strong goal commit-
ments into effective goal striving. Well-researched strategies
of effective goal striving include shielding a desirable goal
from competing goal pursuits (Kuhl & Beckmann, 1994),
planning the implementation of goal-directed actions by
if-then plans (Gollwitzer, 1999) or mental simulations
(Taylor, Pham, Rivkin, & Armor, 1998), preventing overex-
tension (Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Muraven, & Tice, 1998),
and controlling relevant emotions (Koole & Jostmann,
2004). Heckhausen and Kuhl (1985) postulate five criteria
for desirability and feasibility before people commit to a
goal: Is there an Opportunity to act, Time to act, is goal
attainment Important and Urgent, and are there Means for
goal attainment (OTIUM)? In addition, people feel more
committed when they have chosen their own goals and
when they adopt assigned goals as their own (Locke &
Latham, 2002). In the same vein, falsely ascribing assigned
goals to oneself fosters goal commitment (Kuhl & Kaze´n,
1994). Still, people do not freely commit to every goal that
meets these criteria.
Thus Oettingen (2000) has pointed out that mental con-
trasting of future and reality rather than indulging in the
future is an effective strategy to regulate one’s goal commit-
ments. The present brief intervention study analyzes whether
health care professionals can be taught mental contrasting
versus indulging as metacognitive strategies to regulate their
goal commitments. We hypothesized that mental contrasting
is more successful in helping participants to manage the
stresses of everyday life than indulging as the former is an
effective strategy to select feasible and desirable goals.
Journal of Personnel Psychology 2010; Vol. 9(3):138–144
DOI: 10.1027/1866-5888/a000018
Ó2010 Hogrefe Publishing
Mentally Contrasting Future and Reality
When people use the self-regulation strategy of mental con-
trasting (Oettingen, 2000; Oettingen, Pak, & Schnetter,
2001; Oettingen et al., 2009), they imagine a desired future
(e.g., excelling in academic or professional achievement)
and then reflect on the current reality that stands in the
way of reaching that future (e.g., obstacles or temptations
such as having little time or being distracted). When feasibil-
ity (expectations of success) is high, elaborating both future
and reality makes them simultaneously accessible and links
them together. Now the reality is seen as an obstacle to real-
izing the desired future. When feasibility is low, future and
reality are disconnected as the reality is seen as insurmount-
able (Kappes & Oettingen, 2010). Therefore, mental con-
trasting helps to decide whether to commit to the goal of
realizing the future or not. It creates either energization
and strong goal commitments or de-energization and weak
goal commitments (Oettingen et al., 2009). On the contrary,
only focusing on the desired future (indulging) should fail to
create expectancy-dependent commitment as the reality is
not perceived as an obstacle to realizing the future. Indulg-
ing should leave the a priori commitment of the person
untouched (Oettingen et al., 2001, 2009; Oettingen, Mayer,
Thorpe, Janetzke, & Lorenz, 2005).
Mental contrasting versus indulging differ in line with
Metcalfe and Mischel’s (1999) distinction between hot and
cool self-regulation systems. As mental contrasting depicts
the reality as standing in the way of the desired future it should
activate the cool system. On the contrary, by focusing on the
desired future indulging should activate the hot system. Using
continuous magnetoencephalography, a brain-imaging tech-
nique measuring magnetic fields produced by electrical
activity in the brain, Achtziger, Fehr, Oettingen, Gollwitzer,
and Rockstroh (2009) showed that mental contrasting,
unlike indulging and resting, implicates brain activity in areas
associated with working and episodic memory,i ntention main-
tenance and action preparation, as well as vivid visualization.
Accordingly, mental contrasting more than indulging should
enable people to recognize feasibility issues that are based
on experiences in the past when committing to goals.
A series of experiments supports these hypotheses (sum-
mary by Oettingen & Stephens, 2009). Participants were
randomly assigned to either mentally elaborate both the
desired future and present reality (mental-contrasting condi-
tion) or only the desired future (indulging condition). In one
experiment, adolescent students had to elaborate the future
of excelling in mathematics (participants imagined e.g.,
pride, job prospects) with a negative reality (participants
reflected on e.g., being distracted, feeling lazy) or indulge
in the desired future only. Two weeks after the experiment,
students in the mental-contrasting condition who had ini-
tially felt they could excel in mathematics received better
effort evaluations and course grades than in the indulging
condition. The same was true for school children who
learned a foreign language, in students wanting to solve
an interpersonal problem, and in students wanting to get
to know an attractive stranger. The results held for commit-
ments measured via self-report or observations, directly after
the experiment or weeks later. Mental contrasting is an easy-
to-apply self-regulation tool, as the described effects showed
up even when participants elaborated the future and the
reality very briefly (Oettingen, 2000; Oettingen, Ho¨nig, &
Gollwitzer, 2000; Oettingen et al., 2001, 2009).
In all of these studies, mental contrasting led to strong
goal commitments when feasibility was high, but also
prevented wasting valuable resources when feasibility was
low, thus allocating energy to pursue alternative, more feasi-
ble projects (Janoff-Bulman & Brickman, 1982; Klinger,
1975). As expectations reflect past experiences (Bandura,
1977, 1997; Mischel, 1973), mental contrasting creates goal
commitments based on performances in the past. Thus it
leads to discriminative skills (Mischel, 1973) that are benefi-
cial in everyday life: It trains people only to get involved
where past experiences predict further successes. Indulging
in the positive future, on the contrary, leads to commitment
irrespective of expectations of success, and thus disconnects
a person from his/her past experience. It therefore provokes
too much investment in unfeasible goals, and too little invest-
ment in feasible ones, thus potentially wasting resources.
Indeed, futile goal pursuit breeds negative affect (Higgins,
Roney, Crowe, & Hymes, 1994), anxiety (Pomerantz, Saxon,
& Oishi, 2000), mental problems and physical exhaus-
tion (Baumeister et al., 1998; Emmons, 1996), and low
well-being (Brunstein, 1993; Strauman et al., 2006).
Mental Contrasting Versus Indulging
as Metacognitive Strategies: A Brief
Intervention
Previous work on mental contrasting has investigated its
effects in experimental paradigms that directed participants’
thoughts at a predefined desired future, and then assessed
the effects on commitments to realizing the very same future.
For example, future thoughts pertained to excelling in
mathematics or to solving a specified interpersonal concern
(Oettingen et al., 2001). Consequently, dependent variables
were higher math grades and specific actions taken. In the
present study, we explored whether we could teach partici-
pants to apply mental contrasting versus indulging strategies
to all sorts of everyday wishes and concerns. Specifically,
we randomly assigned participants to two conditions. In one
condition we taught how to mentally contrast, in the other
how to indulge. Then all participants were encouraged to
apply thestrategies theyhad learned to their own idiosyncratic
everyday concerns. Thus we taught individuals how to control
their own mental processes, a way of thinking that has been
described as metacognition (Brinol & DeMarree, in press;
Flavell, 1979; Metcalfe, 2003) or higher order executive
processes (Sternberg, 1997). Such metacognitive strategies
enable people to direct and control their own mentalprocesses
(Nelson & Narens, 1994).
In addition, the present brief intervention fulfills recent
recommendations that extensive and multimodal interven-
tions in behavior change be replaced by more targeted and
theory-driven approaches. That is, instead of teaching a vari-
ety of self-management techniques (Frayne & Geringer,
2000; Uhl-Bien & Graen, 1998), we taught self-regulation
G. Oettingen et al.: Mental Contrasting and Managing Everyday Life 139
Ó2010 Hogrefe Publishing Journal of Personnel Psychology 2010; Vol. 9(3):138–144
strategies that would specifically target engaging and disen-
gaging from goals. However, our study also differs from
more specified goal-related interventions in that we do not
tell people how to strive for an a priori defined goal (e.g.,
weight control, Stice, Shaw, & Marti, 2006; alcohol control,
Lock, 2004; forgiveness, Harris et al., 2006, see also Webb
& Sheeran, 2006), but teach people how to apply the strat-
egies of mental contrasting versus indulging to their own
daily concerns and behaviors that may vary in specificity,
proximity, content, scope (Latham & Locke, 2007), and
framing (Dweck & Leggett, 1988; Higgins, 1997).
Consequently, rather than focusing on outcome variables
pertaining to single concerns, we measured variables of gen-
eral success in managing everyday life. Specifically, two
weeks after the intervention we asked how well participants
had managed their most precious resource: Time. Second,
based on Sternberg’s triarchic model of intelligence
(1997), we measured the three different determinants of
developing practical abilities: Adaptation, shaping of exist-
ing environments, and selection of different environments.
Participants had to report about their success in relinquishing
projects (adaptation), completing projects (shaping), and
making decisions (selection). These indicators of effective
resource management have also been used in other research
traditions such as when predicting well-being in institutions
(Frayne & Geringer, 2000) or over the life span (Brandt-
sta¨dter, Wentura, & Rothermund, 1999).
We chose full-time employed middle-level health care
managers as participants in our study because professional
development in this high-stress career path demands strong
resource management. The career path is characterized by
plentiful and often conflicting demands from superiors and
subordinates and by high responsibility in contrast to rela-
tively low authority (Cobb, 1976). In the health care profes-
sion (review by McVicar, 2003), high workload and time
pressure, especially in light of low provision resources,
relate to psychological distress and somatic complaints;
the same is true for an imbalance of high effort and low
rewards (Gelsema, van der Doef, Maes, Akerboom, &
Verhoeven, 2005; Siegrist, 1996; review by Dollard,
LaMontagne, Caulfield, Blewett, & Shaw, 2004). Also, lack
of organization and communication at work hampers job
satisfaction and increases emotional exhaustion. Thus mid-
dle-level health care managers should greatly benefit from
being taught a self-regulation strategy that helps them cope
with the host of demands in their everyday work life.
Method
Participants and Design
A total of 52 middle-level personnel managers (34 women,
11 men, 7 did not specify gender) working in various units
of four large hospitals in Germany participated in groups of
5–7. Their mean age was 42 years (SD = 7.48), ranging
from 26 to 59 years. We randomly assigned participants to
one of the two experimental conditions: a mental-contrasting
condition and an indulging condition. We trained them in
either mental contrasting or indulging, by targeting their
own everyday problems. Participation was voluntary and
the training took place during work hours.
Procedure
The female experimenter greeted participants and explained
that the current practice session was part of a larger investi-
gation analyzing the importance of free thoughts and images
in everyday life. She gave an overview of the procedure,
assured confidentiality, and stressed that participation was
voluntary. To guarantee anonymity, the experimenter
requested participants to write down a personal code instead
of their names. She informed participants that after the initial
three-step practice session, she would ask them to fill out a
booklet with daily reminders for a period of 14 days to help
them rehearse what they had learned. Participants were
alerted to the importance of this daily exercise. Finally, the
experimenter told them that two weeks after the practice ses-
sion she would invite them to fill out a final questionnaire.
After these general instructions, participants started with
the first part of the practice session by indicating their pres-
ently most important personal problem. They named, for
example, conflict with an employee, writing a report, or com-
ing up with a proposal. Participants then had to list four posi-
tive aspects that they associated with their problem coming to
a happy ending and four negative aspects of reality that stood
in the way of their problem coming to a happy ending. There-
after, participants received a large blank sheet of paper where
they were supposed to draw four large thought bubbles from
the top to the bottom of the page. Participants were told to
write their thoughts and mental images into the thought bub-
bles. Participants in the mental-contrasting condition had to
elaborate in writing two positive aspects of a happy ending
to their problem and two negative aspects of reality that stand
in the way of a happy ending, in alternating order, beginning
with a positive aspect of the desired future. Participants in the
indulging condition elaborated in writing four positive
aspects associated with a happy ending to their problem.
To practice the procedures of mental contrasting versus
indulging, participants in the second step of the training ses-
sion had to generate as many pressing professional and pri-
vate everyday problems as possible. These problems had to
be quite controllable, but had to make them feel clearly
uneasy. Each participant named at least 20 such problems
or concerns, they named for example, being assertive in a
meeting, visiting a mother, canceling the contract of a
coworker, throwing a dinner party. Depending on the
conditions, they then had to either mentally contrast or
indulge with respect to the first six of these problems: the
first problem in writing and the other five in their mind.
Finally, in the third part of the practice session, all partic-
ipants received a booklet where three pages were available
for each day of the upcoming two weeks. On the first page
of Day 1, participants had to indicate the problem of the day
that made them feel most uneasy. Instructions were the
following:
140 G. Oettingen et al.: Mental Contrasting and Managing Everyday Life
Journal of Personnel Psychology 2010; Vol. 9(3):138–144 Ó2010 Hogrefe Publishing
Please name today’s professional or private problem that
makes you feel most uneasy. If you have more than one,
please name the problem that is associated with the strongest
feelings of uneasiness. The problem that makes me feel most
uneasy today is __________________________________.
On the second page of Day 1, participants in the men-
tal-contrasting condition had to jot down and then elabo-
rate in writing a positive future keyword and a negative
reality keyword pertaining to the named problem. In the
indulging condition, participants had to jot down and men-
tally elaborate two positive future keywords. On the third
page of Day 1, we told participants that for other projects
or problems of the day, they should mentally elaborate the
respective keywords in their minds whenever those prob-
lems appeared or when participants had a good opportunity
to do so (e.g., while waiting for the bus or when walking
home).
Two weeks later the experimenter approached partici-
pants again and handed them a short questionnaire assessing
the dependent variables. After completion of this question-
naire, we fully debriefed participants about the purpose of
the study. We also offered a practice session in mental con-
trasting should participants in the indulging condition want
to learn it, and provided extensive information to all partic-
ipants about further strategies to manage everyday problems
and daily hassles.
Dependent Variables
In the follow-up questionnaire, we measured the indicators
of resource management and of the development of practical
intelligence described above. Specifically, participants
reported about their time management: ‘‘How successful
were you in the past two weeks in organizing your time?’
The answer scale ranged from 1 (not at all)to7(very). Par-
ticipants also reported relinquished projects: ‘‘How many
tasks or projects did you relinquish in the past two weeks?’’,
and on their completed projects: ‘‘How many tasks or pro-
jects which are long overdue did you complete in the last
two weeks?’’ The answer scales ranged from 1 (none at
all)to7(very many). Finally, we asked ‘‘Compared to pre-
vious experiences, how easy was it for you in the past two
weeks to make decisions?’’ Again, the answer scale ranged
from 1 (notatall)to7(very). Of the total number of partic-
ipants (N= 52), 45 (23 in the mental-contrasting condition
and 22 in the indulging condition) completed the final ques-
tionnaire as well as the booklet (for at least half of the
assigned days, i.e., 6 days in total). Thus, the following anal-
yses include 45 participants.
Results
Descriptive Analyses
Means and standard deviations are provided in Table 1. As
predicted, the dependent variable time management did not
correlate with project relinquishment (r=.11,p= .47), pro-
ject completion (r=.23,p= .14), or with ease of making
decisions (r= .05, p= .76). Project relinquishment did not
correlate with project completion (r= .07, p= .66), or ease
of making decisions (r=.18,p= .19), and project comple-
tion did not correlate with ease of making decisions
(r=.003, p= .99). These low correlations support the
notion that the dependent variables assessed distinct aspects
of resource management and of the development of practical
intelligence (see also Sternberg, 1988, 1997).
Management of Everyday Life
Two weeks after the practice session, participants in the
mental-contrasting condition reported more success in man-
aging their time than those in the indulging condition,
F(1, 43) = 8.38, p< .007. They also reported more success
in relinquishing projects, F(1, 43) = 6.24, p< .02 (Figure 1,
left bars) and in completing projects, F(1, 43) = 3.24,
p< .04 (one-tailed). Finally, compared to participants in
the indulging condition, participants in the mental-contrast-
ing condition experienced an easier time making decisions,
F(1, 43) = 5.28, p< .03 (Figure 1, right bars).
Discussion
The present brief intervention shows that people can be
trained to use mental contrasting in a short practice session
and then readily apply it to the various problems they are
confronted with during their everyday life. In comparison
to participants in the indulging condition, those in the men-
tal-contrasting condition reported having solved problems in
their everyday life more successfully. They reported success
Table 1. Correlations, Ms, and SDs for the relevant variables (N= 52)
Variables M(SD)123
1. Time management 4.87 (1.44)
2. Project relinquishment 2.52 (1.14) .11
3. Project completion 4.02 (1.62) .23 .07
4. Ease of deciding 4.71 (1.41) .05 .18 .003
G. Oettingen et al.: Mental Contrasting and Managing Everyday Life 141
Ó2010 Hogrefe Publishing Journal of Personnel Psychology 2010; Vol. 9(3):138–144
in managing their time, making decisions, and mastering
their projects by letting some go and completing others.
Mental Contrasting Versus Indulging
as Metacognitive Strategies: Processes
We do not know which exact processes were responsible for
the differential effects of teaching mental contrasting versus
indulging as metacognitive strategies. Based on past
research that mental contrasting leads to expectancy-depen-
dent goal commitments, we speculate that by applying men-
tal contrasting, our participants may have relinquished those
projects where chances of success were low, thus avoiding
psychological distress of pursuing unfeasible goals. To the
contrary, when chances of success were high, mental con-
trasting may have led participants to vigorously pursue
and complete feasible projects. We speculate that mental
contrasting eased the burden of unpromising and multiple
projects and thus helped the health care professionals to
manage their everyday lives.
Certainly, our results may have stemmed from other pro-
cesses than deciding on feasible projects. For example, par-
ticipants in the two conditions may have differed in the
frequency of using the strategies and they may have applied
them to different types of concerns. Thus future research
should assess the frequency of use as well as record the
types of concerns in each condition. In addition, participants
in the two conditions might have differed in the amount of
advice and instrumental help sought from others. Responses
from participants’ colleagues and supervisors should yield
clues to what extent such help may have contributed to com-
pleting projects and easing decisions.
Further, in the present study we did not measure the
baseline of our outcome variables. Thus the data are silent
about change over time. In fact, participants in both condi-
tions may have benefited in the management of their every-
day problems which would imply that in the present paper
we underestimated the beneficial effects of mental contrast-
ing. Future studies should check this possibility.
Mental Contrasting Versus Indulging
as Metacognitive Strategies: Consequences
We also do not know which aspects of our dependent vari-
ables were differentially affected by participants being
taught mental contrasting versus indulging. For example,
mental contrasting and indulging might have differentially
affected time management in terms of taking notes, planning
meetings, or organizing work materials (Green & Skinner,
2005); they might have differentially influenced relinquish-
ing projects in terms of postponing, delegating, or letting go
of projects; mental contrasting may have fostered comple-
tion of projects by changing standards, working faster, or
working more effectively. Finally, they may have differen-
tiallyaffecteddecisionmakingbypromotingproblemsolv-
ing skills, fostering insight, or strengthening people’s
assertiveness. Previous research has supported differential
effects of mental contrasting versus indulging on all these
variables (summary by Oettingen & Stephens, 2009).
In the present study, we focused on indicators of goal
commitment as measured by single-source self-report mea-
sures of relevant behavior. Future research should use multi-
ple source data and assess behavioral consequences as
measured by more objective indicators. For example, one
may assess persistence in pursuing daily chores, job absen-
teeism, or productivity and creativity (e.g., as reported by
peers and supervisors) and physiological and nonverbal indi-
cators of effective stress management (e.g., systolic blood
pressure; Oettingen et al., 2009; gestures, postures, facial
movements; Oettingen & Gollwitzer, 2009). Finally, the
study is silent about the downstream effects on performance
and well-being. We speculate that teaching mental contrast-
ing, since it has been found to make people commit to fea-
sible goals and drop unfeasible goals, should equip people to
manage their everyday life in a more self-disciplined way.
Self-discipline, characterized by control over impulses,
thought, emotion, and behavior, should then lead to high
achievement and increased well-being as well as job satis-
faction (Duckworth & Seligman, 2005; Kahneman, Diener,
& Schwarz, 1999; Tangney, Baumeister, & Boone, 2004).
Importantly, however, the present research adds to the lit-
erature in that we established a brief intervention to induce
mental contrasting versus indulging as metacognitive strate-
gies (Brinol & DeMarree, in press; Flavell, 1979; Metcalfe,
2003) or higher order executive processes (Sternberg, 1997).
We observed that health care managers in the mental-con-
trasting condition more effectively managed their time and
decision making than those in the indulging condition.
Benefits of Teaching Mental Contrasting
Teaching mental contrasting made people take action to
relinquish some projects and complete others. Accordingly,
mental contrasting may be an effective self-regulation tool
Figure 1. Mean values depict the difference between the
mental contrasting and the indulging condition in suc-
cessful time management (left), project relinquishment
(middle left), project completion (middle right), and ease
of deciding (right).
142 G. Oettingen et al.: Mental Contrasting and Managing Everyday Life
Journal of Personnel Psychology 2010; Vol. 9(3):138–144 Ó2010 Hogrefe Publishing
to ensure that people commit themselves only to a manage-
able number of relatively promising goals. Although mental
contrasting demands the performance of a series of relatively
complex cognitive procedures in a specific order, it still can
be easily learned and applied. Learning how to use mental
contrasting rather than elaborating only the desired future
would provide people with the opportunity to actively deter-
mine whether or not to commit to specific endeavors,
depending on their prospects. We observed that teaching
mental contrasting versus indulging produced the predicted
effects within the two-week period of the study. Future stud-
ies should assess to what extent such effects can be main-
tained over time, beyond setbacks and first successes.
Assuming that mental contrasting benefited time
management and project selection in line with feasibility
concerns, one may speculate that the metacognitive strat-
egy of mental contrasting may be more beneficial for some
participants than for others. For example, one may argue
that individuals prone to negative feelings or depression
(who are inclined to generate projects of low feasibility)
may suffer from being taught mental contrasting as it
fosters disengagement. Precisely such disengagement, how-
ever, may also liberate a person to subsequently pursue
more feasible endeavors (Klinger, 1978; Strauman, 2002),
at least as long as such opportunities exist. This consider-
ation has the following implications, however: if relin-
quishment is not an option because there are no feasible
alternatives, then indulging in the desired future should
be a helpful self-regulation strategy because it guarantees
that individuals stay engaged at least to a moderate degree
(Oettingen & Stephens, 2009).
Finally, our findings are silent with respect to whether
people have a predilection for mental contrasting versus
indulging, and if so, which factors influence such a predilec-
tion. We speculate that the kind of problems people face dur-
ing their everyday life might play a role. Individuals whose
everyday life demands separating the feasible from the
unfeasible (e.g., pilots, air traffic controllers, doctors, police-
men) might be those who predominantly engage in mental
contrasting, while people whose everyday life brings unsure
gratification (e.g., musicians, artists) or bleak prospects (e.g.,
social workers) may engage more in indulging (Oettingen,
1997). Thus the professional context of health care manage-
ment may work in two ways: It may foster the predilection
to mentally contrast, but in turn will benefit from mental
contrasting as mental contrasting fosters successful mastery
of its everyday demands and challenges.
Acknowledgment
Preparation of this article was supported by German Science
Foundation Grant Oe-237/5-1 awarded to the first author.
References
Achtziger, A., Fehr, T., Oettingen, G., Gollwitzer, P. M., & Rockstroh,
B. (2009). Strategies of intention formation are reflected in
continuous MEG activity. Social Neuroscience, 4, 11–27.
Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational
Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 179–211.
Atkinson, J. W. (1957). Motivational determinants of risk-taking
behavior. Psychological Review, 64, 359–372.
Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of
behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84, 191–215.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control.
New York, NY: Freeman.
Baumeister, R. F., Bratslavsky, E., Muraven, M., & Tice, D. M.
(1998). Ego depletion: Is the active self a limited resource?
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1252–1265.
Brandtsta¨dter, J., Wentura, D., & Rothermund, K. (1999).
Intentional self-development through adulthood and later
life: Tenacious pursuit and flexible adjustment to goals. In
J. Brandtsta¨ dter & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Action and self-
development: Theory and research through the life span
(pp. 315–342). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Brinol, P., & DeMarree, K. (in press). Social meta-cognition.
Frontiers of social psychology series. New York, NY:
Psychology Press.
Brunstein, J. C. (1993). Personal goals and subjective well-
being: A longitudinal study. Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, 65, 1061–1070.
Cobb, S. (1976). Social support as a moderator of life stress.
Psychosomatic Medicine, 38, 300–314.
Dollard, M. F., LaMontagne, A. D., Caulfield, N., Blewett, V., &
Shaw, A. (2007). Job stress in the Australian and international
health and community services sector: A review of the literature.
International Journal of Stress Management, 14, 417–445.
Duckworth, A. L., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2005). Self-discipline
outdoes IQ in predicting academic performance of adoles-
cents. Psychological Science, 16, 939–944.
Dweck, C. S., & Leggett, E. L. (1988). A social-cognitive
approach to motivation and personality. Psychological
Review, 95, 256–273.
Emmons, R. A. (1996). Striving and feeling: Personal goals and
subjective well-being. In J. Bargh & P. M. Gollwitzer (Eds.),
The psychology of action: Linking motivation and cognition
to behavior (pp. 314–337). New York, NY: Guilford.
Flavell, J. H. (1979). Metacognition and cognitive monitoring:
A new area of cognitive-developmental inquiry. American
Psychologist, 34, 906–911.
Frayne, C. A., & Geringer, J. M. (2000). Self-management training
for improving job performance: A field experiment involving
salespeople. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85, 361–372.
Gelsema, T. I., van der Doef, M., Maes, S., Akerboom, S., &
Verhoeven, C. (2005). Job stress in the nursing profession:
The influence of organizational and environmental conditions
and job characteristics. International Journal of Stress
Management, 12, 222–240.
Gollwitzer, P. M. (1990). Action phases and mind-sets. In E. T.
Higgins & R. M. Sorrentino (Eds.), Handbook of motivation
and cognition (Vol. 2, pp. 53–92). New York, NY: Guilford
Press.
Gollwitzer, P. M. (1999). Implementation intentions: Strong
effects of simple plans. American Psychologist, 54, 493–503.
Green, P., & Skinner, D. (2005). Does time management training
work? An evaluation. International Journal of Training and
Development, 9, 124–139.
Harris, A. H. S., Luskin, F., Norman, S. B., Standard, S., Bruning,
J., Evans, S., & Thoresen, C. E. (2006). Effects of a group
forgiveness intervention on forgiveness, perceived stress, and
trait-anger. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 62, 715–733.
Heckhausen, H. (1977). Achievement motivation and its constructs:
A cognitive model. Motivation and Emotion, 1, 283–329.
Heckhausen, H., & Kuhl, J. (1985). From wishes to action: The
dead ends and short cuts on the long way to action. In M. Frese
& J. Sabini (Eds.), Goal directed behavior: The conception of
action in psychology (pp. 134–159). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
G. Oettingen et al.: Mental Contrasting and Managing Everyday Life 143
Ó2010 Hogrefe Publishing Journal of Personnel Psychology 2010; Vol. 9(3):138–144
Higgins, E. T. (1997). Beyond pleasure and pain. American
Psychologist, 52, 1280–1300.
Higgins, E. T., Roney, C. J. R., Crowe, E., & Hymes, C. (1994).
Ideal versus ought predilections for approach and avoidance
distinct self-regulatory systems. Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, 66, 276–286.
Janoff-Bulman, R., & Brickman, P. (1982). Expectations and
what people learn from failure. In N. T. Feather (Ed.),
Expectations and actions: Expectancy-value models in
psychology (pp. 207–237). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Kahneman, D., Diener, E., & Schwarz, N. (1999). Well-being: The
foundations of hedonic psychology.NewYork,NY:RussellSage.
Kappes, A., & Oettingen, G. (2010). From wishes to goals:
Mental contrasting connects future and reality. Manuscript in
preparation.
Klein, H. J., Wesson, M. J., Hollenbeck, J. R., & Alge, B. J.
(1999). Goal commitment and the goal setting process:
Conceptual clarification and empirical synthesis. Journal of
Applied Psychology, 64, 885–896.
Klinger, E. (1975). Consequences of commitment to and
disengagement from incentives. Psychological Review, 82, 1–25.
Klinger, E. (1978). Modes of normal conscious flow. In K. S.
Pope & J. L. Singer (Eds.), The stream of consciousness:
Scientific investigations into the flow of human experience
(pp. 225–258). New York, NY: Plenum Press.
Koole, S. L., & Jostmann, N. B. (2004). Getting a grip on your
feelings: Effects of action orientation and external demands
on intuitive affect. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 87, 974–990.
Kuhl, J., & Beckmann, J. (Eds.). (1994). Volition and personality:
Action versus states orientation. Seattle, WA: Hogrefe and Huber.
Kuhl, J., & Kaze´ n, M. (1994). Self-discrimination and memory:
State-orientation and false self-ascription of assigned activities.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 1103–1115.
Latham, G. P., & Locke, E. A. (2007). New developments in and
directions for goal setting research. European Psychologist,
12, 290–300.
Lock, C. A. (2004). Screening and brief alcohol interventions:
What, why, who, where and when? A review of the literature.
Journal of Substance Use, 9, 91–101.
Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (2002). Building a practically
useful theory of goal setting and task motivation: A 35-year
odyssey. American Psychologist, 57, 705–717.
McVicar, A. (2003). Workplace stress in nursing: A literature
review. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 44, 633–642.
Metcalfe, J. (2003). Drawing the line on metacognition. Behav-
ioral and Brain Sciences, 26, 350–351.
Metcalfe, J., & Mischel, W. (1999). A hot/cool system analysis of
delay of gratification: Dynamics of willpower. Psychological
Review, 106, 3–19.
Mischel, W. (1973). Toward a cognitive social learning reconcep-
tualization of personality. Psychological Review, 80, 252–283.
Nelson, T. O., & Narens, L. (1994). Why investigate metacog-
nition? In J. Metcalfe & A. P. Shimamura (Eds.), Metacog-
nition (pp. 1–26). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Oettingen, G. (1997). Culture and future thought. Culture &
Psychology, 3, 353–381.
Oettingen, G. (2000). Expectancy effects on behavior depend on
self-regulator thought. Social Cognition, 18, 101–129.
Oettingen, G. & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2001). Goal setting and goal
striving. In A. Tesser, N. Schwarz (Vol. Eds.), M. Hewstone,
& M. Brewer (Series Eds.), Intraindividual processes.
Volume 1 of the Blackwell handbook in social psychology
(pp. 329–347). Oxford, England: Blackwell.
Oettingen, G., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2009). Embodied goal pursuit.
European Journal of Social Psychology, 39, 1210–1213.
Oettingen, G., Ho¨nig, G., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2000). Effective
self-regulation of goal attainment. International Journal of
Educational Research, 33, 705–732.
Oettingen, G., & Mayer, D. (2002). The motivating function of
thinking about the future: Expectations versus fantasies.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 1198–1212.
Oettingen, G., Mayer, D., Sevincer, A. T., Stephens, E. J., Pak,
H., & Hagenah, M. (2009). Mental contrasting and goal
commitment: The mediating role of energization. Personality
and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35, 608–622.
Oettingen, G., Mayer, D., Thorpe, J. S., Janetzke, H., & Lorenz,
S. (2005). Turning fantasies about positive and negative
futures into self-improvement goals. Motivation and Emo-
tion, 29, 237–267.
Oettingen, G., Pak, H., & Schnetter, K. (2001). Self-regulation of goal
setting: Turning free fantasies about the future into binding goals.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 736–753.
Oettingen, G., & Stephens, E. J. (2009). Fantasies and motiva-
tionally intelligent goal setting. In G. B. Moskowitz & H.
Grant (Eds.), The psychology of goals (pp. 153–178).
New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Pomerantz, E. M., Saxon, J. L., & Oishi, S. (2000). The
psychological trade-offs of goal investment. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 617–630.
Siegrist, J. (1996). Adverse health effects of high-effort/
low-reward conditions. Journal of Occupational Health
Psychology, 1, 27–41.
Sternberg, R. J. (1988). The triarchic mind: A new theory of
human intelligence. New York, NY: Viking.
Sternberg, R. J. (1997). Intelligence and lifelong learning:
What’s new and how we can use it? American Psychologist,
52, 1134–1139.
Stice, E., Shaw, H., & Marti, C. N. (2006). A meta-analytic
review of obesity prevention programs for children and
adolescents: The skinny on interventions that work. Psycho-
logical Bulletin, 132, 667–691.
Strauman, T. J. (2002). Self-regulation and depression. Self and
Identity, 1, 151–157.
Strauman, T. J., Vieth, A. Z., Merrill, K. A., Woods, T. E.,
Kolden, G. G., Klein, M. H., ... Kwapil, L. (2006). Self-
system therapy as an intervention for self-regulatory dys-
function in depression: A randomized comparison with
cognitive therapy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical
Psychology, 74, 367–376.
Tangney, J. P., Baumeister, R. F., & Boone, A. (2004). High self-
control predicts good adjustment, less pathology, better grades,
and interpersonal success. Journal of Personality, 72, 271–324.
Taylor, S. E., Pham, L. B., Rivkin, I. D., & Armor, D. A. (1998).
Harnessing the imagination: Mental simulation, self-regula-
tion, and coping. American Psychologist, 53, 429–439.
Uhl-Bien, M., & Graen, G. (1998). Individual self-management:
Analysis of professionals’ self-managing activities in func-
tional and cross-functional work teams. Academy of Man-
agement Journal, 41, 340–350.
Vroom, V. H. (1964). Work and motivation. New York, NY: Wiley.
Webb, T. L., & Sheeran, P. (2006). Does changing behavioral
intentions engender behavior change? A meta-analysis of the
experimental evidence. Psychological Bulletin, 132, 249–268.
Gabriele Oettingen
Psychology Department
New York University
6 Washington Place
New York, NY 10003
USA
Tel. +1 212 998-7915
Fax +1 212 533-1024
E-mail gabriele.oettingen@nyu.edu
144 G. Oettingen et al.: Mental Contrasting and Managing Everyday Life
Journal of Personnel Psychology 2010; Vol. 9(3):138–144 Ó2010 Hogrefe Publishing
... To achieve health-related goals (e.g., staying in shape, losing weight, quitting smoking, practicing safe sex, or going to cancer screenings), an individual must be capable of successfully setting and sticking to goals and regulating his or her behaviors. As research on self-regulation and goal attainment shows, people often have difficulties in adhering to healthy behaviors, practicing self-care activities, and abandoning problematic behaviors (Adriaanse et al., 2010;Allan et al., 2016;Oettingen et al., 2010a;Oettingen et al., 2001). Underlying causes for these struggles are that health-promotional actions are often unpleasant (e.g., taking blood, vaccinations, prostate examination) and strenuous (e.g., physical activity). ...
... With respect to promoting healthy behaviors, research has already looked at improving diabetes self-care (Adriaanse et al., 2013), increase in physical capacity among chronic pain patients (Christiansen et al., 2010), increase of fruit and vegetable intake (Stadler et al., 2010), or physical activity (observed stair use: Kappes et al., 2012b; self-reported levels of physical activity: Marquardt et al., 2017;Sheeran et al., 2013;Stadler et al., 2009;jogging: Sailer et al., 2015). Concerning de-implementation of target behaviors, the effectiveness of MC as well as MCII has been investigated against the background of reducing unhealthy nutrition (unhealthy snack intake: Adriaanse et al., 2013; consumption of high-calorie foods: Johannessen et al., 2012), reducing alcohol intake (Wittleder et al., 2019), or ceasing smoking (Mutter et al., 2020;Oettingen et al., 2010a). ...
... Harnessing MCII for media-mediated persuasive health communication As demonstrated above, a vast amount of empirical research in motivational psychology supports this observation and has shown that directing individuals to contrast the mental imagery of the desired future with the imagery of their current and personal ('What is it in you that is standing in the way of your desired future?') obstacles (Mental Contrasting; MC) can energize people how to resolve this and guide them to invest their energies efficiently for goal attainment (e.g., Kappes et al., 2012a;Oettingen et al., 2009;Oettingen et al., 2010a). Such empirical findings suggest that media-mediated intervention design should incorporate components that directly point towards obstacles and barriers to behavior change or that prompt the recipient to consider and pinpoint the obstacles that are standing in their way. ...
Article
Full-text available
Mental Contrasting with Implementation Intentions (MCII) is a self-regulation strategy that combines the strategies mental contrasting (MC) in which individualscontrast a desired future with the current reality with the strategy of forming implementation intentions (II), which involves making concrete if-then plans (implementation intentions, II) to overcome the obstacles standing in the way of the desired future. Numerous studies across behavioral domains have demonstrated the effectiveness of this strategy in supporting people to adopt health-promoting behaviors or changing unhealthy behaviors. However, research on MCII has so far neglected the applicability of the concept in media-mediated persuasive health communication. This conceptual review aims to demonstrate and examine the potentials and effects of MCII as a technique to tailor media-mediated persuasive health messages and their dissemination through different media channels. In doing so, it draws on existing models of health behavior change, especially individuals’ threat and coping appraisals. Potential effects of MCII on these cognitive factors are discussed, and practical implications for health message design are outlined.
... The third category asks students to write about their personal life or 'growth' goals, and write about how they will execute their plans (Dobronyi et al., 2019;Latham & Brown, 2006;Morisano et al., 2010;Schippers et al., 2015;Schippers et al., 2020;Travers et al., 2015). In a small-scale trial conducted on academically struggling students from a Canadian university (n = 85), Morisano et al. (2010) tested a version combining expressive writing exercises (Pennebaker & Chung, 2011) with mental contrasting (Oettingen et al., 2010), implementation intentions (Gollwitzer, 1999), and goalsetting theory. The treatment group obtained a significantly higher GPA than the control group. ...
... Merely thinking about an ideal future can lead to positive affect but decreases the chances that a person takes action in order to realise the desired future (Oettingen & Sevincer, 2018). Contrasting the ideal future with the current state, on the other hand, leads to more effort and positive outcomes (Oettingen, 2012;Oettingen et al., 2010). Knowing which habits one would like to change, improves the chances of actual behavioural change (Holland et al., 2006;Graybiel & Smith, 2014). ...
Thesis
Full-text available
Academic thriving stands for a combination of academic outcomes as well as success in other relevant domains, such as well-being or finding the right job. What causes students to thrive academically? The studies in this dissertation contributed to this question with the use of experimental, interdisciplinary and longitudinal studies, and a critical theoretical examination of the arguments against evidence-based education. A large-scale field experiment showed that first-year students who reflected on their desired future, prioritized goals, and wrote detailed plans on how to reach these goals, performed significantly better (in study credits and retention) than students who made a control assignment. This low-cost and scalable goal-setting assignment was made at the start of college and only took the students two hours to complete. Personalized follow-up feedback delivered by an AI-enhanced chatbot could further improve benefits to study outcomes as well as well-being. The final study in this dissertation tracked the effects of different types of work on the study progress of teacher education students over a four-year span. This longitudinal study showed that student who had a paid job in education gained more study credits than students with other types of work or without a job. Additionally it showed that working 8 hours per week relates with the most study progress in the first and third semester of college.
... Blind activism may also explain why in the affective boosting group relatively many intentions were enacted, while no link was found to Expectancy 3 Value. Comparable methods, such as mental contrasting, also only found significant results based on execution expectancy (e.g., Oettingen et al., 2010) and long-term effects were captured by the quality of performance (i.e., grades; Oettingen et al., 2000). Thus, future research should focus more on the quality rather than mere quantity of intention enactment. ...
Article
Full-text available
Effectively managing to-do lists and getting things done is a desirable competence. However, when things get difficult or demanding, many individuals struggle to put their intentions into subsequent actions. According to Personality Systems Interactions (PSI) theory, changes in positive affect are decisive for efficient intention enactment. Based on this understanding, in the present study we designed and evaluated an affect-focused intervention that practices shifting between high and low positive affect. In a control group design (N = 252, Mage = 26.40, SD = 10.24, range 18-66) the affective shifting intervention was contrasted against two other conditions (affective boosting and neutral). To test our assumptions, personal real-life intentions were assessed, and multifaceted measures (self-report, nonreactive) were applied and measured at different time points. To evaluate affective shifting, we tested interindividual benefits in the Stroop task. Additionally, we analyzed intervention effects on positive affect and intention enactment in real life. In line with our assumptions, we found that specifically those individuals who struggle with intention enactment (i.e., state-oriented) benefited in terms of better intention enactment ability in the Stroop task. Further, affective shifting fostered the decisive self-regulation of positive affect that directly improved intention enactment 3 weeks after the intervention. Lastly, affective shifting led to more self-coherent intention enactment, meaning a greater integration of Expectancy × Value considerations 3 weeks after the intervention. Discussion of our findings highlights the importance of theory-driven and affect-related interventions to close the gap between intention and action. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
... For example, MCII reduced stress in healthcare workers , improved homework in ADHD-prone schoolchildren (Gawrilow et al., 2013), and attenuated alcohol consumption in hazardous drinkers (Wittleder et al., 2019). Given their relative lack of resources, low-SES individuals may especially benefit from creative and integrative problem-solving, as well as better time management, all of which are facilitated by mental contrasting (Oettingen et al., 2010a(Oettingen et al., , 2015Kirk et al., 2011). Although we might expect a substantial effect of MCII among low-SES smokers based on these findings, limited research has specifically examined MCII's efficacy with respect to SES. ...
Article
Full-text available
Smoking consequences are seen disproportionately among low-SES smokers. We examine the self-regulatory strategy of mental contrasting with implementation intentions (MCII) as a smoking reduction tool and whether its effectiveness depends on subjective-SES. This pre-registered online experiment comprised a pre-screening, baseline survey, and follow-up. Participants reported past-week smoking, subjective-SES, perceived stress, and were randomized to an active control (n = 161) or MCII condition (n = 164). Data were collected via MTurk, during the U.S.’ initial wave of COVID-19. Participants were moderate-to-heavy smokers open to reducing or quitting. The primary outcome was self-reported smoking reduction, computed as the difference between recent smoking at baseline and follow-up. The secondary outcome was cessation, operationalized as self-reported 7-day point-prevalence abstinence at follow-up. Among those low—but not high—in subjective-SES, MCII (vs. control) improved smoking reduction by an average of 1.09 fewer cigarettes smoked per day, though this effect was not conclusive (p = 0.11). Similarly, quitting was descriptively more likely for those in the MCII than control condition, but the effect was non-significant (p = 0.11). Per an exploratory analysis, we observed that stress significantly moderated the condition effect (p = 0.01), such that MCII (vs. control) facilitated reduction among those experiencing high (p = 0.03), but not low stress (p = 0.15). Consistent with prior findings that MCII works best in vulnerable populations, MCII may be more effective for smoking reduction among high-stress than low-stress individuals. These findings contribute to growing research on income-related health disparities and smoking behavior change tools.
... B. Wissen über die Klimaschädlichkeit von Fleischverzehr nicht unmittelbar in einem Verzicht, auch dann nicht, wenn Menschen eine Welt ohne den Konsum tierischer Produkte als ideal ansehen. Ein Grund sind wahrgenommene Hindernisse, die ein Individuum an der Umsetzung der eigenen Idealvorstellungen hindern (Oettingen et al., 2010). Fachwissen und positive Einstellungen führen demnach nicht unbedingt zur entsprechenden Handlung ("attitudebehaviour gap"; Vermeir & Verbeke, 2006 ...
Chapter
Im März 2019 forderten über 26.000 Wissenschaftler*innen aus Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz mit ihrer Unterschrift eine evidenzbasierte Klimapolitik und stellten sich damit hinter die größte globale Jugendbewegung des 21. Jahrhunderts, die Fridays for Future (Reinhardt, 2019). Die daraus entstandene Initiative Scientists for Future fand weltweit weitere Unterstützung und treibt evidenzbasierte Wissenschaftskommunikation zu Nachhaltigkeit und Zukunftssicherung voran. Gleichzeitig werden die Einflüsse des Menschen auf die Erwärmung des Klimas von Teilen der Bevölkerung angezweifelt und es ist die Rede von einer ungerechtfertigten „Klimahysterie“ (Brunnengräber, 2018).
Thesis
Full-text available
Diese Masterarbeit bietet eine Analyse der Konzepte Handeln und Antizipation und ihrer essenziellen Bedeutung in der Zukunftsforschung. Durch die Schaffung eines für den Autor tieferen Begriffsverständnisses konnten die komplexen Verbindungen zwischen diesen beiden Konzepten verstanden und diskutiert werden. Die Arbeit unterstreicht die pragmatistischen Weltanschauung nach John Dewey, die Handeln als tief verwurzelte Routine betrachten, die maßgeblich durch unsere Vorstellungen von der Zukunft beeinflusst wird. Die Untersuchung betont die Rolle der Antizipation im Handlungsprozess, die nicht nur Entscheidungen formt, sondern auch eine emotionale Verbindung zu diesen Entscheidungen herstellt. Der Autor unterstütz, dass Methoden der Zukunftsforschung, wie die Futures Literacy Labs, entscheidend sind, um einen Raum für Möglichkeiten zu öffnen und verschiedene Szenarien zu explorieren. Die Analyse hebt die Bedeutung der "Act-Phase" der Futures Literacy Labs hervor und argumentiert für eine konzeptionelle Klarheit dieser Phase als "Handlungsvorstellung". Die dargelegte Untersuchung zeigt auf, wie Deweys Verständnis von Handlung, Lernen und Antizipation als Teil desselben Systems zur Realisierung zukünftiger Aktionen beitragen kann. Die entwickelte Handlungsauffassung basiert auf Gudjons' „Modell der vollständigen Handlung“ (2001) und gibt Einblicke in die psychologischen Prozesse, die Handlungen vorausgehen. Sie zeigt, wie Menschen Handlungsschemata und -routinen durch das Bewusstsein alternativer Zukünfte überdenken und neu bewerten können. Diese Intervention und Neubewertung haben direkte Auswirkungen auf die Handlungsvorstellungen der Menschen und betonen die Bedeutung begleitender Unterstützung durch die Moderierenden eines Labs. In diesem Rahmen zeigt sich eine Parallele zur Methode des „Mental Contrasting“ nach Gabriele Oettingen (2012) und ihren Studien. Die Methode wird vorgestellt, um die komplexen Zusammenhänge zwischen Zielsetzung, Handlungsmotivation und der Aktivierung von Handlungen zu verstehen. Abschließend legt die Arbeit nahe, dass ein stärkerer Fokus auf psychologische Prozesse innerhalb der Zukunftsforschung notwendig ist, um Methoden wie die Futures Literacy Labs effektiv anzuwenden. Die emotionale Dimension des Handelns ist dabei nur einer von vielen Aspekten, die in zukünftigen Forschungsarbeiten weiter vertieft werden sollten.
Article
Full-text available
This study explored the relationship between the Big Five personality traits (BFPTs) and the self-regulation strategy of spontaneous mental contrasting (S.MC) among Chinese university students. Study 1 employed a cross-sectional correlational design. We hypothesized that positive relationships exist for conscientiousness, extraversion, and low neuroticism with spontaneous mental contrasting, whereas agreeableness and openness are unrelated to spontaneous mental contrasting regarding the Chinese context. The results did not support the hypotheses. However, Study 1 indicated that two sub-traits (compassion and responsibility) correlated positively with spontaneous mental contrasting. An experimental study (Study 2) was conducted to confirm these results. The results revealed that the two prosocial traits (compassion and responsibility) significantly predict spontaneous mental contrasting compared to neutral condition. These findings support the results of a prior study, which found that those who experienced more social responsibility toward others typically used spontaneous mental contrasting to achieve their social responsibility goals. These findings extended these results, as the participants in this study exhibited increased spontaneous mental contrasting with their academic goals when induced by responsibility and compassion. The results of this study imply that the prosocial traits increased the use of spontaneous mental contrasting and future interventional designs should integrate these traits.
Article
Full-text available
Many workplaces offer health and wellbeing initiatives to their staff as recommended by international and national health organisations. Despite their potential, the influence of these initiatives on health behaviour appears limited and evaluations of their effectiveness are rare. In this research, we propose evaluating the effectiveness of an established behaviour change intervention in a new workplace context. The intervention, ‘mental contrasting plus implementation intentions’, supports staff in achieving their health and wellbeing goals by encouraging them to compare the future with the present and to develop a plan for overcoming anticipated obstacles. We conducted a systematic review that identified only three trials of this intervention in workplaces and all of them were conducted within healthcare organisations. Our research will be the first to evaluate the effectiveness of mental contrasting outside a solely healthcare context. We propose including staff from 60 organisations, 30 in the intervention and 30 in a waitlisted control group. The findings will contribute to a better understanding of how to empower and support staff to improve their health and wellbeing. Trial registration: ISRCTN17828539.
Article
Full-text available
Fantasy realization theory states that when people contrast their fantasies about a desired future with reflections on present reality, a necessity to act is induced that leads to the activation and use of relevant expectations. Strong goal commitment arises in light of favorable expectations, and weak goal commitment arises in light of unfavorable expectations. To the contrary, when people only fantasize about a desired future or only reflect on present reality, expectancy-independent moderate goal commitment emerges. Four experiments pertaining to various life domains supported these hypotheses. Strength of goal commitment was assessed in cognitive (e.g., making plans), affective (e.g., felt attachment), and behavioral terms (e.g., effort expenditure, quality of performance). Implications for theories on goal setting and goal striving are discussed.
Article
Full-text available
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.
Article
Full-text available
Presents an integrative theoretical framework to explain and to predict psychological changes achieved by different modes of treatment. This theory states that psychological procedures, whatever their form, alter the level and strength of self-efficacy. It is hypothesized that expectations of personal efficacy determine whether coping behavior will be initiated, how much effort will be expended, and how long it will be sustained in the face of obstacles and aversive experiences. Persistence in activities that are subjectively threatening but in fact relatively safe produces, through experiences of mastery, further enhancement of self-efficacy and corresponding reductions in defensive behavior. In the proposed model, expectations of personal efficacy are derived from 4 principal sources of information: performance accomplishments, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion, and physiological states. Factors influencing the cognitive processing of efficacy information arise from enactive, vicarious, exhortative, and emotive sources. The differential power of diverse therapeutic procedures is analyzed in terms of the postulated cognitive mechanism of operation. Findings are reported from microanalyses of enactive, vicarious, and emotive modes of treatment that support the hypothesized relationship between perceived self-efficacy and behavioral changes. (21/2 p ref)
Article
Full-text available
People approach pleasure and avoid pain. To discover the true nature of approach–avoidance motivation, psychologists need to move beyond this hedonic principle to the principles that underlie the different ways that it operates. One such principle is regulatory focus, which distinguishes self-regulation with a promotion focus (accomplishments and aspirations) from self-regulation with a prevention focus (safety and responsibilities). This principle is used to reconsider the fundamental nature of approach–avoidance, expectancy–value relations, and emotional and evaluative sensitivities. Both types of regulatory focus are applied to phenonomena that have been treated in terms of either promotion (e.g., well-being) or prevention (e.g., cognitive dissonance). Then, regulatory focus is distinguished from regulatory anticipation and regulatory reference, 2 other principles underlying the different ways that people approach pleasure and avoid pain.
Article
The goal of this study was to evaluate the effects of a 6-week forgiveness intervention on three outcomes: (a) offense-specific forgiveness, (b) forgiveness-likelihood in new situations, and (c) health-related psychosocial variables, such as perceived stress and trait-anger. Participants were 259 adults who had experienced a hurtful interpersonal transgression from which they still felt negative consequences. They were randomized to a forgiveness-training program or a no-treatment control group. The intervention reduced negative thoughts and feelings about the target transgression 2 to 3 times more effectively than the control condition, and it produced significantly greater increases in positive thoughts and feelings toward the transgressor. Significant treatment effects were also found for forgiveness self-efficacy, forgiveness generalized to new situations, perceived stress, and trait-anger. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 62: 715–733, 2006.
Article
Article
Behavior and experience are organized around the enjoyment and pursuit of incentives. During the time that an incentive is behaviorally salient, an organism is especially responsive to incentive-related cues. This sustained sensitivity requires postulating a continuing state (denoted by a construct, current concern) with a definite onset (commitment) and offset (consummation or disengagement). Disengagement follows frustration, accompanies the behavioral process of extinction, and involves an incentive-disengagement cycle of invigoration, aggression, depression, and recovery. Depression is thus a normal part of disengagement that may be either adaptive or maladaptive for the individual but is probably adaptive for the species. The theory offers implications for motivation; etiology, symptomatology, and treatment of depression; drug use; and other social problem areas.