Mapping letters from the future: exploring narrative processes of imagining the future

Journal of Health Psychology
Anneke M SoolsJan H Mooren

Abstract

This article uses Letters from the Future (a health promotion instrument) to explore the human capacity of imagining the future. From a narrative perspective, letters from the future are considered to be indicative of a variety of forms through which human beings construct and understand their future selves and worlds. This is consistent with an interpretive approach to understanding the human mind, which offers an alternative for the current dominant causal-explanatory approach in psychology. On the basis of qualitative analysis of 480 letters from the future, collected online from a diverse group of Dutch and German persons, we first identified five narrative processes operating in the letters: imagining, evaluating, orienting, expressing emotions and engaging in dialogue. Second, using comparative analysis, we identified six types of how these processes are organized in the letters as a whole. These types differ regarding functionality (which of the five processes was dominant); temporality (prospective, retrospective and present-oriented); the extent to which a path between present and future was described; and the vividness of the imagination. We suggest that these types can be used in narrative health practice as 'pathway...Continue Reading

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Citations

Mar 13, 2015·Journal of Health Psychology·Anneke M SoolsGerben J Westerhof
Sep 21, 2017·Journal of Health Psychology·Hee Jin JeonKaylin Ratner
Aug 22, 2018·Violence Against Women·Christopher D KilgoreRachel Voth Schrag

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