Huang Lun, Xie Yibo, Chen Xiaolin
Management School, Hainan University, Haikou, China.
Front Psychol. 2021 Oct 15;12:728946. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.728946. eCollection 2021.
Speculative thinking refers to thinking about past or future possibilities; it includes counterfactual thinking, prefactual thinking, and other types. In this narrative review, we discuss the traditional function of speculative thinking in improving future performance (i.e., the preparatory function). We also explore several non-preparatory functions of speculative thinking that have not been widely covered, namely the functions of conveying information and of supporting lying. In addition, we address temporal asymmetry; one perspective focuses on psychological distance in speculative thinking about the past and future, while another focuses on temporal asymmetry and reality/hypothetical differences in the preparatory function of speculative thinking. Overall, this review suggests that a broader functional theory is needed to address non-preparatory functions and the traditional preparatory function. Such a theory should cover all speculative thinking about the past and future rather than simply counterfactual thinking.
推测性思维是指对过去或未来可能性的思考；它包括反事实思维、前事实思维和其他类型。在这篇叙述性综述中，我们讨论了推测性思维在提高未来表现方面的传统功能（即准备功能）。我们还探讨了推测性思维的几种尚未被广泛涵盖的非准备功能，即传达信息和支持说谎的功能。此外，我们探讨了时间不对称性；一种观点关注对过去和未来的推测性思维中的心理距离，而另一种观点则关注推测性思维准备功能中的时间不对称性以及现实/假设差异。总体而言，本综述表明需要一个更广泛的功能理论来处理非准备功能和传统的准备功能。这样的理论应该涵盖对过去和未来的所有推测性思维，而不仅仅是反事实思维。
