Imagining social interactions before they occur may help with actual interactions by increasing feelings of preparedness and reducing anxiety. A study looked at whether imagining an interaction benefited the real interaction by having participants imagine or not imagine an interaction and then interact with a confederate. Those who imagined the interaction reported greater feelings of preparedness and perceived their behavior more positively, with both them and the confederate rating them as exhibiting less anxiety and more positive behaviors and wanting future interactions. However, the study was limited by its measures, design, and unrealistic setting.
3. The Present Study
If you imagine an interaction before it occurs, does
it benefit the actual interaction experienced?
• Increased feelings of preparedness.
• Reduces anxiety.
• Increase perceived positive interpersonal
behaviour.
4. How we tested it…
Qualtrics Survey
Imagination
Condition
Control
Condition
Actual
Interaction
