This chapter provides an overview of what is known about content of possible selves and implications of possible selves for outcomes for male and female teens differing in race/ethnicity (African American, Asian American, Latino, Native American, and white teens). Although findings are somewhat ambiguated by heterogeneity in time focus (e.g. ‘next year’, ‘when you are an adult’, ‘in five years’...

TWO DECADES OF RESEARCH ON POSSIBLE SELVES AND THE ‘MISSING MALES’ PROBLEM IN CHORAL MUSIC Music education researchers have a lengthy history of examining reasons why individuals seek participation in musical activities. Within that history, however, the concept of ‘possible selves’ (Markus & Nurius, 1986) has received little attention until recently. In the broadest terms, possible selves are ...

Seven studies exploring people's tendency to make observer-like attributions about their past and future selves are presented. Studies 1 and 2 showed temporal differences in trait assessments that paralleled the classic actor-observer difference. Study 3 provided evidence against a motivational account of these differences. Studies 4-7 explored underlying mechanisms involving differences in the...

In this paper, we present an incentivized experiment to investigate the degree of loss aversion when people make decisions for their current selves and future selves under risk. We find that when participants make decisions for their future selves, they are less loss averse compared to when they make decisions for their current selves. This finding is consistent with the interpretation of loss ...

This paper shows that in situations in which the preferences of multiple selves are aggregated into a collective decision, even if the researcher has a fully specified theory of how preferences get aggregated, there are typically no testable implications of the theory unless there is an a priori restriction on the number of selves. This result has implications in both interpersonal and intraper...

This experiment examined the effects of a possible selves intervention on self-regulatory efficacy and exercise behavior among 19 men and 61 women (M age = 21.43 years, SD = 3.28) who reported exercising fewer than 3 times per week. Participants were randomly assigned to a control condition, a hoped-for possible selves intervention condition, or a feared possible selves intervention condition. ...

This paper derives the ‘generalized Euler equation’ for an agent with multi-period deviations from geometric discounting. The functional equation that describes optimal consumption-savings decisions involves manipulation of future selves and indirect manipulation of more distant selves through intervening selves. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

BACKGROUND Imagining one's future self is a hallmark of adolescence. But imagining is not enough; adolescents must fell that this future is plausibly likely and take action, which may require pragmatic support. Prior research has examined the effect of parental aspirations and expectation on children's possible self, not the effect of their support. AIMS Therefore, this study assessed the rol...

We investigated associations between spouses' shared possible selves and well-being as a function of their perceptions of collaboration in 61 late-midlife (M = 60 years) and older (M = 72 years) couples dealing with prostate cancer. Spouses completed assessments of possible selves (with shared selves defined as possible selves portraying a similar goal across spouses), psychological well-being,...