The role of personal growth initiative in affective forecasting

A large body of affective forecasting literature suggests that individuals struggle with accurately predicting future affect and that these errors in forecasting can cause psychological distress. However, individual differences have been found in affective forecasting. This study explored the role of personal growth initiative (PGI) skills in affective forecasting. Using the 2020 presidential election, the author examined whether individuals with more developed PGI skills made more accurate affective forecasts in three areas: (1) Intensity of happiness and sadness about the outcome of the election; (2) Intensity of happiness and sadness in general; (3) Frequency of happiness and sadness about the outcome of the election. Participants were 100 college students at a large Southwestern University. PGI mean predicted accuracy for frequency of sadness about the outcome of the election. Two PGI factors, using resources and intentional behavior, also predicted accuracy for frequency of sadness. When candidate preference was controlled for, intentional behavior was a significant predictor of accuracy for intensity of happiness and sadness in general and frequency of happiness and sadness about the outcome of the election. Results suggest that overall PGI and intentional behavior may play an important role in affective forecasting and improve an individual’s accuracy when forecasting for a large national event.

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