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cognition
You ignore the context while fixating on the outcome.
Focalism causes you to overestimate how much a single event will influence your future happiness.
When you imagine a future scenario, your mind centers on that event while ignoring the myriad of daily activities that will continue regardless. Research shows this causes people to mispredict the emotional impact of major life changes like a new job or relocation.
You are rarely as affected by a single change as you expect to be.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Wilson and Gilbert, 2003
- What the check found
- The claim is a well-established psychological concept accurately attributed to Wilson and Gilbert, even though the provided text describes the mechanism without using the term 'focalism'.
- Confidence
- Solid, with limits
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.