Pragmatic prospection is linked with positive life and workplace outcomes

Abstract

ABSTRACT Pragmatic prospection is the ability to think deeply about the future in order to identify and to work productively toward goals. It involves imagining desirable future outcomes, setting sensible goals, making plans, and flexibly executing those plans. We conducted an exploratory survey of full-time working U.S. adults (N = 1541), measuring individual differences in pragmatic prospection along with life- and job-related outcomes. All data from the present survey are publicly available. Pragmatic prospection correlated positively with positive outcomes (e.g. life satisfaction, work productivity), correlated negatively with negative outcomes (e.g. anxiety, depression), and tracked with other adaptive personality traits associated with achievement and psychological adjustment (e.g. high conscientiousness, low neuroticism). These results point to pragmatic prospection as an important component of flourishing, both in the workplace and in daily life.