Depression and Personal Goals: Cognitive and Emotional Anticipation, 2020-2021

In order to plan, prepare for, and shape events in line with one’s goals, one needs to be able to anticipate future events and/or states. This study investigated the cognitive representations and emotional anticipation pertaining to goal achievement and whether these differ as a function of severity of depressive symptoms. After listing approach and avoidance goals, participants made predictions about these goals (e.g. likelihood of achievement, controllability) and rated their cognitive representations of goal success (vividness, perspective). They also provided ratings of either anticipated (predicted emotions that would accompany goal success) or anticipatory (in-the-moment emotions when imagining goal success) positive emotions. The findings have implications for both future work regarding both anticipated and anticipatory emotions as well as therapeutic techniques to aid depression and dysphoria.