Department of Psychology, University of Florida.
Department of Psychology, University of Virginia.
Emotion. 2021 Aug;21(5):981-989. doi: 10.1037/emo0000941. Epub 2021 Mar 4.
When left to their own devices, people could choose to enjoy their own thoughts. But recent work suggests they do not. When given the freedom, people do not spontaneously choose to think for pleasure, and when directed to do so, struggle to concentrate successfully. Moreover, people find it somewhat boring and much less enjoyable than other solitary activities. One reason for this is that people may not know how to think for pleasure. Specifically, they may not know what to think about to make this both a meaningful and pleasant experience. We tested this prediction in two preregistered studies, by providing specific examples of meaningful topics (Study 1) or instructing participants to think "meaningful" thoughts (Study 2). Although providing specific examples of meaningful topics boosted how meaningful and enjoyable people found thinking for pleasure (Study 1), asking people to think "meaningful" thoughts (as compared with pleasurable ones) did not, because some of the meaningful topics people thought about were negative (Study 2). In order for thinking for pleasure to be pleasurable, people need to focus on topics that are both meaningful and positive. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
当人们任由自己支配时，他们可以选择享受自己的思绪。但最近的研究表明，他们并没有这样做。当被赋予自由时，人们并不会自发地选择愉悦地思考，而当被要求这样做时，他们也很难成功集中注意力。此外，人们觉得这种思考有点无聊，也远不如其他独处活动有趣。造成这种情况的一个原因是，人们可能不知道如何愉悦地思考。具体来说，他们可能不知道该想些什么才能使这种思考既富有意义又令人愉悦。我们在两项预先注册的研究中检验了这一预测，方法是提供有意义话题的具体示例（研究 1）或指导参与者进行“有意义”的思考（研究 2）。虽然提供有意义话题的具体示例确实能提高人们对愉悦思考的意义和乐趣的感知（研究 1），但要求人们思考“有意义”的想法（与愉悦的想法相比）却没有，因为人们思考的一些有意义的话题是负面的（研究 2）。为了使愉悦思考令人愉悦，人们需要专注于既有意义又积极的话题。
