Regulatory Focus and Thinking About the Future Versus Reality

People oriented toward promotion are concerned with changing (improving) their current state, while those oriented toward prevention are concerned with maintaining (not worsening) their current state (Higgins, 1997). Because a promotion orientation is directed at moving from the reality to a better future, whereas a prevention orientation is directed at keeping the reality, we predicted and found in 4 studies that when thinking about important personal wishes or concerns, promotion-oriented participants focused more on the future (vs. the reality) than prevention-oriented participants. Promotion-oriented participants also viewed the future more positively compared to their reality than prevention-oriented participants. We assessed focus toward the future and reality by asking participants to name and write about an important personal wish or concern and analyzing the content of their written texts. We observed the effects when we manipulated participants' regulatory focus by asking them to generate promotion (vs. prevention) oriented concerns (Studies 1 and 2) and when we measured their chronic regulatory focus (Study 3).