A pilot study investigating affective forecasting biases with a novel virtual reality-based paradigm

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Affective Science

Background:

• Research suggests individuals overestimate the emotional impact of future events.
• Affective forecasting biases are prevalent but challenging to study in controlled settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a novel laboratory paradigm for studying affective forecasting biases.
• To investigate subjective and autonomic responses during affective forecasting and experience.

Main Methods:

• A virtual reality paradigm exposed 30 participants to pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant scenarios.
• Subjective (arousal, valence) and autonomic (skin conductance responses [SCRs], heart rate) measures were collected.
• Participants forecasted and then experienced emotional responses to various scenarios.

Main Results:

• Participants overestimated arousal and valence for pleasant and unpleasant scenarios.
• Autonomic measures showed expected patterns during emotional experience (e.g., higher SCRs for arousal).
• Forecasting phase showed weak links between subjective arousal and SCRs, and no valence-based cardiac modulation.

Conclusions:

• The developed paradigm effectively captures affective forecasting biases under controlled laboratory conditions.
• Findings reveal discrepancies between anticipated and experienced emotions, particularly in extremity.
• This paradigm offers a valuable tool for studying affective forecasting, with potential applications in understanding disorders like anxiety.