Future On Demand - Opinions

The official publication of the Association for Psychological Science - Psychological Science - published the results of several studies that show that "belief in a preferred future" does not depend on race, age and cultural characteristics. If a person is deeply convinced of something, he believes that over time, other people will surely understand how right he is (and not he himself, under the influence of circumstances, will change his own opinion).

Sometimes we wonder how it is possible to be so inattentive to someone else's position, to stand so stubbornly. We do not see ourselves being held hostage to the “preferred future”. Meanwhile, scientists have proven that this behavior is typical for representatives of absolutely all cultures. They first interviewed 254 Americans about their beliefs on a number of topics. And then, about whether the participants believe that over time, people who disagree with them will be convinced of their rightness.

As a result, on any topic - from religion and politics to climate and parties - 91% of the respondents thought that in the future everyone around them would definitely share their opinion. Then the scientists got to China, Japan, Holland, England (in total, having interviewed 800 more people) and found that the result of all the studies is the same: 9 out of 10 people believed that in the future they would not change their point of view, but would convince of the "truth." everyone else.

The experimenters themselves were surprised to understand that the expectation of a “preferred future” is not influenced by traditions and beliefs, nor attitudes and beliefs. This type of thinking about the future is manifested in different cultures and is a kind of basic point. This view of the future could explain a range of behaviors from working in an unloved place to underestimating opposition in political struggles, researchers say.