Narrative construction of the future self: meaning and identity over time

This project investigates three connected areas: (1) the qualitative structure and content of the core self, (2) the effects of a personal message delivered from a shifted temporal self-position on self-continuity and meaning in life, and (3) the role of individual differences and narrative content in shaping these effects. Specifically, the study examines how engaging in episodic future thinking about one’s distant future self influences self-continuity, meaning in life, authenticity, and future-oriented attitudes in young adults. In a single online experiment, participants aged 18–35 are randomly assigned to one of two writing conditions. In the experimental condition, participants imagine themselves 35 years in the future and write a letter from this future self to their present self, with the aim of eliciting vivid mental time travel and reflection on enduring aspects of identity. In the control condition, participants describe their previous day and write a letter to a friend about it, providing a neutral, everyday narrative comparison. We will examine whether the future-self perspective manipulation (relative to the control condition) leads to higher levels of perceived self-continuity and a stronger sense of existential meaning. In addition, differences between the experimental group (future 35-years) and the control group will be tested with respect to future-related anxiety, pro-environmental intentions, and dialogical flexibility. A brief manipulation check (rated on a 5-point Likert scale) will assess the extent to which participants experienced mental time travel, allowing us to link subjective task engagement to key outcome variables. In addition, we will examine the content of participants’ letters to verify that the writing reflects the intended perspective (i.e., 35 years ahead in the experimental condition versus the control condition), providing an objective confirmation of the manipulation. We chose a 35-year future horizon because it clearly activates a distant temporal perspective, far enough removed from current circumstances and short-term changes. This distance encourages participants to draw on what they perceive as their core self (attributes that remain relatively stable despite physical and situational changes) and aligns with the view of self-continuity as a sense of identity extending into the future. At the same time, the task is narrative in nature: visualizing a future version of oneself and writing a letter from the future requires constructing a coherent story that links the past, the present, and an imagined future. This supports organizing and integrating important events, values, and goals, and helps identify which elements participants consider most stable and defining of their identity, thereby fostering reflection on self-continuity and meaning in life. Beyond the analysis of main effects, this project extends existing research on future-self interventions by examining how individual differences shape responses to the manipulation. In particular, we examine how authenticity and identity styles relate to the effects of imagining an aged future self on self-continuity and meaning in life. We also link the qualitative characteristics of participants’ narratives, capturing how they describe stable identity features and integrate life events across time to changes in perceived access to core aspects of identity (e.g., stability, narrative coherence, and continuity of self-defining characteristics across time) and to broader existential outcomes. Overall, this study allows us to test both the direct effects of a future-self writing task and the conditions under which episodic future thinking may influence a coherent, temporally extended sense of self.