Pleasure Now, Pain Later: Positive Fantasies About the Future Predict Symptoms of Depression
Abstract
Though common sense suggests that positive thinking shelters people from depression, the four studies reported here showed that this intuition needs to be qualified: Positive thinking in the form of fantasies about the future did indeed relate to decreased symptoms of depression when measured concurrently; however, positive fantasies predicted more depressive symptoms when measured longitudinally. The pattern of results was observed for different indicators of fantasies and depression, in adults and in schoolchildren, and for periods of up to 7 months (Studies 1–4). In college students, low academic success partially mediated the predictive relation between positive fantasies and symptoms of depression (Study 4). Results add to existing research on the problematic effects of positive fantasies on performance by suggesting that indulging in positive fantasies predicts problems in mental health.
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Thinking only about positive future outcomes decreases goal-relevant efforts and the likelihood of goal achievement.
“Several studies by Oettingen and colleagues found that thinking only about positive future outcomes decreases goal-relevant efforts, as well as the likelihood of goal achievement (e.g., Oettingen and Mayer, 2002; Kappes H. B. et al., 2012; Oettingen et al., 2016).”
From A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Mental Contrasting With Implementation Intentions on Goal Attainment (2021) · cites this paper as Oettingen et al., 2016
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References 43 · Cited by 61
- Authors
- Oettingen, G., Mayer, D., & Portnow, S.
- Affiliations
- Universität Hamburg (DE)
- University of Virginia (US)
- Corresponding author
- Oettingen, Gabriele
- Venue
- Psychological Science
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2016-01-29
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 345-353
- ISSN
- 0956-7976 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-9280
- OpenAlex
- W2292246837
- Cited by
- 61
- References
- 43
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 4
- FWCI
- 9.02
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychological Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Optimism, Hope, and Well-being
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
- Keywords
- positive thinking, depression, depressive symptoms, academic performance, elementary school students, university students, mental health, longitudinal prediction
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Depression, Fantasy, Female, Humans, Male, Pain, Young Adult, Pleasure
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