TY - JOUR

T1 - Taking Responsibility for Others and Use of Mental Contrasting

AU - Sevincer, A. Timur

AU - Musik, Tanja

AU - Degener, Alina

AU - Greinert, Annika

AU - Oettingen, Gabriele

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2020 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

PY - 2020/8/1

Y1 - 2020/8/1

N2 - Mentally contrasting a desired future with present reality fosters selective goal pursuit: People pursue feasible desired futures and let go from unfeasible ones. We investigated whether people are more inclined to spontaneously use mental contrasting when they feel responsibility. Studies 1 and 2 provided correlational evidence: Employees who felt responsible for completing an important team project (Study 1) and MTurk users who felt and actively took social responsibility (Study 2) were more inclined to use mental contrasting. Studies 3 and 4 added experimental evidence: Students who were instructed to imagine responsibility for giving an excellent class presentation in a group or alone (Study 3) and participants who elaborated on an idiosyncratic wish that involved responsibility for others or themselves tended to use mental contrasting (Study 4). Apparently, people who feel or take responsibility for others, the society, or themselves are more likely to use mental contrasting as a self-regulation tool.

AB - Mentally contrasting a desired future with present reality fosters selective goal pursuit: People pursue feasible desired futures and let go from unfeasible ones. We investigated whether people are more inclined to spontaneously use mental contrasting when they feel responsibility. Studies 1 and 2 provided correlational evidence: Employees who felt responsible for completing an important team project (Study 1) and MTurk users who felt and actively took social responsibility (Study 2) were more inclined to use mental contrasting. Studies 3 and 4 added experimental evidence: Students who were instructed to imagine responsibility for giving an excellent class presentation in a group or alone (Study 3) and participants who elaborated on an idiosyncratic wish that involved responsibility for others or themselves tended to use mental contrasting (Study 4). Apparently, people who feel or take responsibility for others, the society, or themselves are more likely to use mental contrasting as a self-regulation tool.

KW - content-analyses

KW - future thinking

KW - mental contrasting

KW - responsibility

KW - self-regulation

KW - Psychology

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85078286644&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1177/0146167219898569

DO - 10.1177/0146167219898569

M3 - Journal articles

C2 - 31928315

AN - SCOPUS:85078286644

VL - 46

SP - 1219

EP - 1233

JO - Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin

JF - Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin

SN - 0146-1672

IS - 8

ER -