Back to the Future: Similarities and Differences in Emotional Memories and Prospections

Previous research suggests that our prospections rely, in part, upon our memories. However, less is known about the ways in which the content of memories and prospections are similar (or dissimilar) and whether this similarity varies by emotion. In the present study, we coded the content and style of participants’ (n = 109) positive, negative, and neutral memory and prospection narratives. Emotional memories were more elaborated, social, and further back in time than neutral memories. By contrast, prospections varied by valence: Positive prospections included more time and place indicators and were more social and closer in time than negative prospections. Although over half of the coded content in memories and prospections matched, regardless of valence, positive memories and prospections matched more than negative. These findings suggest that people are more likely to construct positive futures that are similar to the past but are less likely to do so for negative futures. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.