Episodic Future Thinking Involving the Nonsmoking Self Can Induce Lower Discounting and Cigarette Consumption

Building on recent advances showing that the engagement in episodic future thinking (EFT) rather than semantic future thinking (SFT) can induce individuals to delay gratification and that activation of the ideal self may promote goal attainment, we tested whether imagining life events after smoking cessation led to lower discounting and reduced smoking.

Ninety smokers (21 women, 69 men) with intentions to quit or reduce smoking were randomly assigned to one of the three experimental conditions: EFT, SFT, and control. The dependent measures were discounting rate and number of cigarettes smoked during an ostensible survey. The number of cigarettes smoked in the following week was also recorded.

Participants who engaged in EFT that involved imagining positive life experiences after smoking cessation discounted the future less (M = 0.43, SD = 0.25) in a monetary choice task than did participants who engaged in SFT (M = 0.56, SD = 0.20) and control participants (M = 0.58, SD = 0.22). Participants under the EFT condition were less likely to smoke (50.0%) at a subsequent survey than were participants under the SFT condition (73.3%) and controls (80.0%). During the post-experimental week, the EFT group also smoked less (M = 88.90 cigarettes, SD = 30.12) than did the SFT group (M = 108.67 cigarettes, SD = 32.56) and the control group (M = 112.97 cigarettes, SD = 36.24).

Our findings indicate that smokers who engage in EFT involving the self after smoking cessation show reduced smoking, and this suggests that EFT involving the ideal self (e.g., the nonsmoking self for smokers intending to quit or reduce smoking) may constitute a new approach to controlling impulsive or addictive behaviors.