The mind and the future: The (negative) power of expectations

We try to identify the configurations of beliefs and goals typical of the various kinds of representation of the future: forecasts, hopes and fears, and a particular kind of anticipatory representations, that we call "hope-casts" and "fear-casts", which are supposed to imply both forecasts and either hopes or fears, and also a normative component according to which the expected event "ought" to happen. We address the psychological consequences of hope-casts, either before or after the expected event comes true or false, and point to the sense of injustice and loss produced by violated hope-casts. We also address individual differences in dealing with violated hope-casts, and the possible role played by just world beliefs, optimism, and defensive pessimism. Finally, we compare our model with related approaches, and stress the negative potential of hope-casts in terms of the negative attitudes associated with them, which hamper people's ability to cope with disappointment.