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Schubert T, Eloo R, Scharfen J, et al. How imagining personal future scenarios influences affect: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Clin Psychol Rev. 2019;75:101811doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2019.101811.
Schubert, T., Eloo, R., Scharfen, J., & Morina, N. (2020). How imagining personal future scenarios influences affect: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical psychology review, 75101811. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2019.101811
Schubert, Torben, et al. "How imagining personal future scenarios influences affect: Systematic review and meta-analysis." Clinical psychology review vol. 75 (2020): 101811. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2019.101811
Schubert T, Eloo R, Scharfen J, Morina N. How imagining personal future scenarios influences affect: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Clin Psychol Rev. 2020 Feb;75:101811. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2019.101811. Epub 2019 Dec 18. PMID: 31884148.
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Clin Psychol Rev. 2020 Feb;75:101811. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2019.101811. Epub 2019 Dec 18.

How imagining personal future scenarios influences affect: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Clinical psychology review

Torben Schubert, Renée Eloo, Jana Scharfen, Nexhmedin Morina

Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology, Westfälische Wilhelms-University Münster, Münster, Germany.
  2. Department of Statistics and Methods, Institute of Psychology, Westfälische Wilhelms-University Münster, Münster, Germany.
  3. Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology, Westfälische Wilhelms-University Münster, Münster, Germany. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 31884148 DOI: 10.1016/j.cpr.2019.101811

Abstract

Imagining the future is a fundamental human capacity that occupies a large part of people's waking time and impacts their affective well-being. In this meta-analysis, we examined the effect of (1) positive future imagination and (2) negative future imagination on affect, and (3) compared the affective responses between imagining the future and remembering the past; lastly, we (4) examined potential moderating variables in this regard. We identified 63 experimental studies (N = 6813) from different research areas and combined studies that applied the best possible self imagination task, future worry induction, and episodic future simulation, respectively. Findings yielded that imagining the future has a moderate to strong impact on affect, and it has a stronger influence on affect compared to remembering the past. Relevant moderator variables in each research area were also identified. We discuss the findings for the field of psychology in general and clinical psychology in particular. More elaborate research on personal future imagination seems crucial for the further advancement of clinical applications for mental health complaints. We conclude with recommendations for future research on the impact of future imagination on affective well-being.

Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Affect; Best possible self; Episodic future simulation; Future imagination; Future worry; Meta-analysis

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