Imagining the future: A cross-cultural perspective on possible selves

Rathbone, Clare J.; Salgado, Sinué; Akan, Melisa; Havelka, J; Berntsen, Dorthe

doi:10.1016/j.concog.2016.03.008

Cited by 24 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…specific self-images) generated for distant versus near future self-images when they were explicitly manipulated. Rathbone et al (2016) explained that, although this appears counter to construal-level theory (Trope & Liberman, 2010), it can be explained by distant self-images mapping on to cultural life scripts; replicated herein. Additionally, it is possible that when thinking of the near future, participants draw upon already present aspects of self, such as ubiquitous attributes (e.g., being caring, which can be present across multiple aspects of self; see Donahue et al, 1993;McConnell, 2010).…”

Section: The Content Of Self-imagesmentioning

confidence: 59%

“…In a recent study, Rathbone et al (2016) demonstrated that specific (versus abstract) possible self-images were dated as emerging in the more distant (versus near) future. Our results are consistent with this, in that we found fewer attributes (cf.…”

Section: The Content Of Self-imagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Including a possible self that opposes the ideal-self, an undesired/feared-self (Markus & Nurius, 1986), would potentially further illuminate the role of possible selves in MTT, and how MTT is temporally organised around more abstract and stable (past and future) self-images (e.g. Chessel et al, 2014; Rathbone et al, 2008Rathbone et al, , 2011Rathbone et al, , 2016. Finally, it is worthy of note that our study was entirely administered online, which arguably lacks experimental control when compared with laboratory-based studies.…”

Section: Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Imagining possible selves across time: Characteristics of self-images and episodic thoughts

Hamilton

Cole

2017

Consciousness and Cognition

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Thinking about our possible selves can entail thinking about self-related imagined future events. When remembering and imagining, individuals can use both 1st person (field) and 3rd person (observer) perspectives. There is currently a paucity of research examining the visual perspectives of episodic future thoughts that represent possible selves. We hypothesised that temporally distant self-images would elicit more observer perspectives in episodic thoughts than temporally near self-images and current self-images. Utilising a repeated measures design, sixty-eight undergraduate students completed IAM, I Will Be near and I Will Be far conditions (Rathbone, Conway, & Moulin, 2011) to generate self-images and their related episodic thoughts. It was found that episodic qualities were reliably affected by different self-images. Specifically, observer perspective predilections increased with future temporal distance. Findings are discussed in relation to self-continuity with recommended practical applications of visual perspective utilisation for wellbeing.

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Section: The Content Of Self-imagesmentioning

confidence: 59%

Section: The Content Of Self-imagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Imagining possible selves across time: Characteristics of self-images and episodic thoughts

Hamilton

Cole

2017

Consciousness and Cognition

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“…Similar to research on episodic future thinking, research on future self-images has also demonstrated that when people are asked to freely generate future self-images, they usually produce a higher proportion of positive than negative self-images (Rathbone, Conway, & Moulin, 2011;Rathbone, Salgado, Akan, Havelka, & Berntsen, 2016). In addition, there is evidence suggesting that this bias favoring the generation of positive self-images is found across young, middle-age and older adults (Salgado & Berntsen, 2018), and that positive self-images are dated to emerge closer to the person's present regardless of age (Chessell, Rathbone, Souchay, Charlesworth, & Moulin, 2014;Smith & Freund, 2002).…”

Section: Self-imagesmentioning

confidence: 92%

My future is brighter than yours: the positivity bias in episodic future thinking and future self-images

Salgado

Berntsen

2019

Psychological Research

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Numerous studies on episodic future thinking have demonstrated that individuals perceive their future as more positive and idyllic than their past. It has been suggested that this positivity bias might serve a self-enhancement function. Yet, conflicting findings and lack of systematic studies on the generalizability of the phenomenon leave this interpretation uncertain. We provide the first systematic examination of the positivity bias across different domains and tasks of future thinking. First, we use the same tasks in two different domains of future thinking, representing an episodic (events) and a semantic dimension (self-images), respectively. Second, we use two different measures of positivity bias (i.e., frequency of positive versus negative instances and their distance from present). Third, we contrast each measure in each domain for events/self-images related to self versus an acquaintance. Experiments 1 and 2 showed a strong, general tendency for the generation of positive future events/self-images, but most pronounced for self, relative to an acquaintance. Experiments 3 and 4 demonstrated that positive future events/self-images were dated closer to present, whereas negative ones were pushed further into the future, but only for self and not for an acquaintance. Our results support the idea that the positivity bias in future thinking serves a self-enhancement function and that this bias likely represents a similar underlying motivational mechanism across different domains of future thinking, whether episodic or semantic. The findings add to our understanding of the motivational functions served by different forms of future thoughts in relation to the self.

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“…After all, they might share the intuitions of social psychologists [80] more than those of philosophers, who put less emphasis on social roles. When imagining possible future selves, participants from different cultures focused not only on abstract self-improvement, but also on future social relations [84]. Considering the continuity of social relations as a criterion for personal identity led us to the following prediction:…”

Section: Research Questions and Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Putting your money where your self is: Connecting dimensions of closeness and theories of personal identity

2020

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Studying personal identity, the continuity and sameness of persons across lifetimes, is notoriously difficult and competing conceptualizations exist within philosophy and psychology. Personal reidentification, linking persons between points in time is a fundamental step in allocating merit and blame and assigning rights and privileges. Based on Nozick's (1981) closest continuer theory we develop a theoretical framework that explicitly invites a meaningful empirical approach and offers a constructive, integrative solution to current disputes about appropriate experiments. Following Nozick, reidentification involves judging continuers on a metric of continuity and choosing the continuer with the highest acceptable value on this metric. We explore both the metric and its implications for personal identity. Since James (1890), academic theories have variously attributed personal identity to the continuity of memories, psychology, bodies, social networks, and possessions. In our experiments, we measure how participants (N = 1, 525) weighted the relative contributions of these five dimensions in hypothetical fission accidents, in which a person was split into two continuers. Participants allocated compensation money (Study 1) or adjudicated inheritance claims (Study 2) and reidentified the original person. Most decided based on the continuity of memory, personality, and psychology, with some consideration given to the body and social relations. Importantly, many participants identified the original with both continuers simultaneously, violating the transitivity of identity relations. We discuss the findings and their relevance for philosophy and psychology and place our approach within the current theoretical and empirical landscape. OPEN ACCESS Citation: Woike JK, Collard P, Hood B (2020) Putting your money where your self is: Connecting dimensions of closeness and theories of personal identity. PLoS ONE 15(2): e0228271. https://doi. Data Availability Statement: The data required to replicate the results of this study for both Study 1 and Study 2 can be accessed in the Harvard Dataverse (https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/AN1QF3). The dataset for Study 1 is freely accessible in a Personal identity and reidentificationThis investigation into personal identity starts with a theoretical analysis of reidentification. Reidentification poses an important question concerning personal identity [1,18]: Is y at t 2 one and the same person as x at t 1 ? We recognize and thereby reidentify acquaintances and connect their present state with earlier states, but we are also able to remember or imagine their existence in the past and the future. Furthermore, we each stand in a special relationship Putting your money where your self is PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0228271 February 12, 2020 2 / 44 version without demographic information and can be requested via the platform with demographic data by researchers at academic institutions upon reasonable request (the full dataset is uploaded to the platform).

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Imagining the future: A cross-cultural perspective on possible selves

Cited by 24 publications

References 47 publications

Imagining possible selves across time: Characteristics of self-images and episodic thoughts

Imagining possible selves across time: Characteristics of self-images and episodic thoughts

My future is brighter than yours: the positivity bias in episodic future thinking and future self-images

Putting your money where your self is: Connecting dimensions of closeness and theories of personal identity

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