We Ought to Investigate Dyadic Prospects

This article presents preliminary evidence for a new class of future-oriented emotions based on the concerns of self and other, "dyadic prospect emotions." To begin to characterize dyadic prospects, an experiment was conducted on the web to assemble a validated catalog stories dramatizing different combinations of desirability for self and presumed desirability for other. 80 stories were validated using data from 302 participants. New insight into the cognitive antecedents of hope and fear was obtained and two dyadic prospects were tentatively identified: resignation and sacrifice. More generally, early results suggest that dyadic prospects are a promising framework for exploring future-oriented social affect.