Year of Award

2019

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

Master of Arts (MA)

Degree Name

Clinical Psychology

Department or School/College

Department of Psychology

Committee Chair

Craig McFarland

Commitee Members

Stuart Hall, Erin Semmons

Keywords

Prospection, Future Imagery, Pre-experiencing, Meaning, Personal Values, Values Card Sort

Subject Categories

Clinical Psychology | Cognition and Perception

Abstract

Prospection involves imagining future events using mental representations. When people engage in positive, vivid, prospections they report “boosts” of mood, and higher rates of well-being. This study sought to cultivate positive affect in response to prospections by incorporating values into future imagery. Two groups imagined everyday future events in detail. One group additionally learned about values and linked these values to the everyday future events. We hypothesized that the values-based prospection would result in greater increases in mood, and that this increase would be mediated by additional access to details and phenomenological features. Contrary to hypotheses, there was no positive affect change in either group, and no between group differences related to condition. Preliminary analyses suggest other promising changes may have occurred as a result of the values condition. Future research will further examine the impact of this intervention, as well as the clinical utility of incorporating values into future imagery.

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© Copyright 2019 Bethany Grace Gorter