Affective prediction .. what is it and how does it affect happiness

What is affective prediction 

Affective prediction is the process by which we discover what we already know, and we have evolved to have emotional reactions to events in the present, and therefore, to know how we will react to events in the future, and we may pretend that these events are happening now, where affective prediction refers to prediction of one's future feelings, and based on this definition, Wilson and Gilbert identify four specific components of affective experience that one can predict:

• valence (whether the emotion will be positive or negative) 
• The specific emotions we experience (such as guilt and excitement)
• intensity of passion 
• Duration of emotion(s).

When we try to predict our feelings, we generally think about whether those feelings will be positive or negative, what specific emotions we will feel, how intensely we will feel them, and how long they will last.

How does affective prediction affect happiness?

You can easily see how emotional prediction affects our happiness. A large part of  happiness  comes from anticipating positive future events and managing our expectations about inevitable negative future events. As a result of making emotional prediction errors, people often exaggerate and underestimate how happy they are in response to certain events. On the other hand, when a person underestimates his future happiness, he is likely to find more happiness.

Another challenge to achieving sustainable happiness is our tendency to adjust to a baseline level of happiness after positive life events, and this marked tendency for people to quickly return to stable levels of happiness is sometimes referred to as yin conditioning or the hedonistic vicious circle, although this common human tendency, enables us to use A set of strategies for retaining moments of joy, and deriving long-term happiness from them. In positive psychology, this is referred to as (taste), which is defined as the process through which people value and enhance positive experiences in their lives.

Relishing strategies include recounting the experience with others, demonstrating positive affect (eg, laughter), taking the time to feel gratitude, feeling proud of oneself for accomplishments, building memories such as intentionally trying to remember positive experiences, and perceptual sharpening i.e. carefully paying attention during pleasant moments, in addition, we can help ourselves experience greater happiness by maintaining realistic expectations, by learning to enjoy good things as they come and not expecting any event that will make your life radically better or easier, you will avoid the dangers of prediction biases, which will help you To build and maintain happiness.

Examples of affective prediction

Emotional prediction is something we do every day. We do it without even noticing. Try to  set  a day where you commit to noting all the times you predict your feelings about a future event. Every time you find yourself predicting a future emotional experience, make some notes about your predictions. Signs that you may be engaging in emotional forecasting is if you find yourself experiencing a physical reaction in response to thoughts focused on the future, for example, perhaps you notice your heart racing slightly in anticipation of a romantic dinner date. These physical reactions occur because the emotions currently being felt indicate Sometimes we refer to feelings that we expect to feel in the future, and these feelings are referred to as anticipatory feelings.

So, your heart may be racing in anticipation of your next appointment because you're feeling excited, alternatively, your heart may be racing because of nervousness or a sense of dread. Taking a day to experience affective prediction in this way will not only help you better understand the concept, but it will also be an opportunity to practice a little. From mindfulness, allowing you to become aware of your own cognition and anticipatory emotions, here are some examples of emotional predictability you might notice on a typical day:

• Thinking of an upcoming vacation and looking forward to relaxing  mornings  and nights filled with happiness.
• You dread visiting the dentist, feel your palms sweating, and anticipate the discomfort and pain of brushing your teeth.
• You wake up looking forward to your morning coffee, and expect a refreshing start to your day.
• You notice that you're nervous about a presentation at work, and you anticipate that you'll feel dreadful of public speaking.
• You feel  impatient as you await the birth of your baby and expect to experience joy, happiness and peace after the birth.
• While waiting at a coffee shop, you look forward to the arrival of an old friend and expect to feel good and nostalgic as you discuss high school memories.
• Alternatively, you may worry about your old friend's opinion of your life and current circumstances, expecting to feel embarrassed or ashamed when comparing accomplishments.
•  Watching a football match in the stands, you expect to feel happy when your favorite team wins the match.

Affective prediction and decision making

Below we learn how emotional expectations influence decision-making and subsequent behavior based on the above examples:

• Since you're looking forward to your next vacation, you've decided to proactively book another vacation in the future, this is something you probably wouldn't do if you weren't actively looking forward to the trip.
• You cancel your dentist appointment to avoid the pain, fear, and discomfort that you can expect, and thus, the health of your teeth and mouth deteriorates, leading to an even more painful appointment in the future.
• The anticipation of your morning coffee gets you so excited that you decide to stop by the coffee shop on your way to work.
• Acknowledging your nerves about the upcoming presentation, you're practicing your delivery skills to help calm your nerves, so your manager is complimenting you on a great presentation.
• Your impatience to meet your baby encourages you to plan and strategize in the run-up to birth, making you feel prepared and calming your fears before your baby is born.
• You look forward to your coffee date so much that you decide to get your friend a small but thoughtful gift, which will delight your friend and rekindle a fulfilling friendship.
• You worry so much about what your old friend will think of you that you decide to call off the get-together at the last minute, effectively putting an end to your old friendship.
• Anticipating how you'll feel after your football team wins leads you to plan a party or celebratory drinks.

These scenarios involve making decisions about your behavior based on your expectations about a relevant future event Like most decisions in life, some lead to good outcomes and others to bad outcomes Decisions that lead to bad outcomes are often the result of making wrong decisions, which can They occur in response to one or more prediction biases, so it is important to be careful when making decisions based on our expectations of future emotions.