2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43
Psychologists invited a group of people aged 20 to 25 years to write a letter about themselves from their current "I" to the future "I" (Gelder J., 2013, Clarity of the future itself predicts actions). Some were asked to turn to their “I” after three months, to the “nearest I”, and others - to “I” after 20 years, to the “distant I”. Then the group was instructed: "Think about what you will be [in that future] and write what you are today, what topics are important or dear to you and how you see your life." That is, they were asked to think and express what worries them.
After writing these letters, the two groups were given a questionnaire containing three illegal scenarios - buying a stolen (they knew about it) computer, committing insurance fraud, illegally downloading media content - and asked if they would harass them. Those who turned to the “distant self” were less likely to take part in such scenarios. And those who turned to the "closest self" agreed to join any of the three scenarios.
At first, it may not be clear how writing a letter - even to yourself - can affect your attitude towards behavior. But the letter writers created what is called an extension of themselves. By connecting with their “distant self” and its values, they could understand themselves as a person with root beliefs and moral norms, despite the changes in other elements and situations in their lives.
In contrast to them, people who turned to the “nearest self” perceived their “distant selves” as abstract strangers. They continued to make their choice as if it were for someone else. After all, if you think that in 20 years your "I" will have little to do with the real "I", there is nothing like buying stolen goods and deceiving the insurance company, or - if we are talking about examples of the real world closer to us - start smoking, spending pension money, collecting loans on the card. Creating an extension of self can prevent bad choices and promote good choices.
In another study, college students were asked to pretend they had received $ 1,000 (Hershfield, G., 2011, Increasing Savings Behavior Through Increasing Ideas of the Future). Then they were asked to divide this money into four categories: “buy something beautiful for someone special”, “invest in a pension fund”, “plan extravagant entertainment”, “put it in a checking account”. But before the students began distributing the windfall income, the researchers placed each participant in a virtual reality environment. Half of the group saw the avatars of their current self, and the other half saw the avatars of the self at 70. As predicted, the group that saw the elderly avatars donated twice as much theoretical money for imaginary pension funds. Allocating time to reflect on a long-term perspective leads to useful forward-looking solutions.
The article appeared thanks to the book "Emotional Agility" by Susan David
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