title: Mind wandering via mental contrasting as a tool for behavior change.
abstract: When people engage in mind wandering they drift away from a task toward their inner thoughts and feelings. These thoughts often circle around people's personal futures. One assumed function of mind wandering is that it aids problem solving and planning for the future. We will discuss different forms of mind wandering and their effects on problem solving and behavior change. While solely fantasizing about a desired future leads to poor problem solving and little behavior change, mind wandering in the form of mental contrasting leads to skilled problem solving and substantial behavior change. In mental contrasting, people first envision the desired future and then imagine the obstacles that need to be surmounted to reach said future. Mental contrasting instigates behavior change by modulating the strength of associations between future and reality and between reality and instrumental action. Intervention research shows that mental contrasting can be taught as a cost- and time-effective self-regulation strategy of behavior change. The findings have implications for research on mind wandering, problem solving, and on creating effective interventions of behavior change.
authors.affiliation: Psychology Department, New York University New York, NY, USA ; Department of Psychology, University of Hamburg Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Oettingen
authors.forename: Bettina
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schwörer
keywords: behavior change intervention; fantasies; mental contrasting; mind wandering; motivation; self-regulation; thinking about the future
references.citation: Cogn Emot. 2011 Dec;25(8):1481-90
references.pmid: 21432633
references.citation: Conscious Cogn. 2011 Dec;20(4):1604-11
references.pmid: 21917482
references.citation: Trends Cogn Sci. 2011 Jul;15(7):319-26
references.pmid: 21684189
references.citation: J Pers Soc Psychol. 2002 Nov;83(5):1198-212
references.pmid: 12416922
references.citation: Soc Neurosci. 2009;4(1):11-27
references.pmid: 18633825
references.citation: Conscious Cogn. 2009 Mar;18(1):118-25
references.pmid: 19121953
references.citation: Pain. 2010 Jun;149(3):444-452
references.pmid: 20199846
references.citation: Emotion. 2009 Apr;9(2):271-276
references.pmid: 19348539
references.citation: PLoS One. 2012;7(9):e44423
references.pmid: 22957071
references.citation: Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2012 Jul;38(7):845-57
references.pmid: 22645162
references.citation: J Pers Soc Psychol. 2001 May;80(5):736-53
references.pmid: 11374746
references.citation: Am J Prev Med. 2009 Jan;36(1):29-34
references.pmid: 18977113
references.citation: Health Psychol. 2013 Jul;32(7):802-9
references.pmid: 22888817
references.citation: Psychol Bull. 2006 Nov;132(6):946-958
references.pmid: 17073528
references.citation: Science. 2010 Nov 12;330(6006):932
references.pmid: 21071660
references.citation: Psychol Sci. 2007 Jul;18(7):614-21
references.pmid: 17614870
references.citation: Conscious Cogn. 1995 Mar;4(1):1-21
references.pmid: 7497092
references.citation: Acta Psychol (Amst). 2011 Mar;136(3):370-81
references.pmid: 21349473
references.citation: Conscious Cogn. 2012 Mar;21(1):401-7
references.pmid: 22033437
references.citation: Mem Cognit. 1995 Sep;23(5):551-9
references.pmid: 7476241
references.citation: Conscious Cogn. 2008 Dec;17(4):1093-104
references.pmid: 18424178
references.citation: Emotion. 2011 Oct;11(5):1206-22
references.pmid: 21707148
references.citation: Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2013 Sep;39(9):1240-54
references.pmid: 23831856
references.citation: Psychol Bull. 2006 Mar;132(2):249-68
references.pmid: 16536643
references.citation: Psychol Health. 2013;28(1):1-12
references.pmid: 22364109
references.citation: Soc Psychol Personal Sci. 2013 Nov 1;4(6):745-753
references.pmid: 25068007
references.citation: Health Psychol. 2010 May;29(3):274-83
references.pmid: 20496981
references.citation: Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2009 May;35(5):608-22
references.pmid: 19213924
references.citation: Psychol Health. 2012 Oct;27 Suppl 2:43-58
references.pmid: 22149291