Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Psychology

Program Name/Specialization

Social Psychology

Faculty/School

Faculty of Science

First Advisor

Roger Buehler

Advisor Role

Supervisor

Abstract

This thesis examines whether or not the perspective that one takes when visualizing a future event influences one’s affective forecasts about that target event. When imagining a future event, people can adopt a first person perspective (as they would see it through their own eyes as it was actually occurring) or a third person perspective (as an observer would see it). I ran five studies to test the hypothesis that the perspective adopted while visualizing a future event has a differential effect on the forecasts of self-conscious vs. hedonic emotions. Specifically, I hypothesized that people forecast stronger self-conscious emotions when visualizing a future event from the third person perspective than from the first person perspective, but that the opposite holds true when forecasting hedonic emotions. In each study, participants selected a significant, positive event that they expected to occur within the next month, imagined that event from one of the two perspectives, and then forecasted several different emotions, some of which were hedonic in nature, and others that were self-conscious. Results of the five studies did not provide clear or consistent support for my hypothesis. Limitations of the studies are discussed and suggestions for future research are provided.

Convocation Year

2020

Convocation Season

Fall

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