title: Harnessing the imagination. Mental simulation, self-regulation, and coping.
abstract: Mental simulation provides a window on the future by enabling people to envision possibilities and develop plans for bringing those possibilities about. In moving oneself from a current situation toward an envisioned future one, the anticipation and management of emotions and the initiation and maintenance of problem-solving activities are fundamental tasks. In the program of research described in this article, mental simulation of the process for reaching a goal or of the dynamics of an unfolding stressful event produced progress in achieving those goals or resolving those events. Envisioning successful completion of a goal or resolution of a stressor--recommendations derived from the self-help literature--did not. Discussion centers on the characteristics of effective and ineffective mental simulations and their relation to self-regulatory processes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles 90095-1563, USA. taylors@psych.ucla.edu
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: L B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Pham
authors.forename: I D
authors.initials: ID
authors.lastname: Rivkin
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Armor
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination; D011340:Problem Solving; D014836:Volition