Feeling and Thinking about the Future: Offline Metacognition in Decision-Making

Abstract

In \nthe \narticle \n, \nI will \nargue \nthat metacognition \nplays an important role in decision \n- \nmaking not only as \ndirect \nonline monitoring and control \nof decision \n- \nmaking \nprocesses \nbut \nalso by enabling us to \ninfluence our decisions \nand actions \n– \nand m \ne \nn \ntal states and processes, related to \nthem \n– \ni \nn an offline \nmanner. \nThat is, \noffline metacognition \nallows us to \nobserve, \nrefer \nto and, to a certain degree, \nexert \ninfluence \non \nme \nn \ntal states and proce \nsses \nrelated to our \ndecisions \nand actions \nin the way of \nbe \ning \nremoved, decoupled from the task/decision at hand and present time demands \n. \nAs such \n, \nit \nenable \ns \nus \nto \nobserve, f \norm thoughts and \nhave feelings \nabout \nme \nn \ntal states and processes \ndirectly \nrelated \nto our \nfuture decisions \n, \nto plan our future decisions, \nto \nreflect on \nour \npast \nchoices \n, \nand \nto \nthink and have \nfeelings about \nour \nbroader \ngoals, desires, and \npersonal \nvalues \nthat are \nindirectly related \nto our decisions. \nTo \nillustrate \nthe importance of offline metacognition in decision \n- \nmaking \n, \nI will \nfirstly \nreview \nand \ndiscuss some \nexperimental findings \non implementation intentions (“ \ndecisions \nabout the future” \n) and \nanticipated emotions ( \nbeliefs about \nfuture emotional states \nrelated to \noutcomes of \nour \ndecisions \n). \nSecondly \n, I will \nargue \nthat \nour ability to reflect \n(t \nhink and feel) \non \nour \nbroader \ngoals, \ndesires and \npersonal values \n– \nthat represent a \nkind of \nstructure into which our \nspecific \ndecisions are embedded \n– \nreveals how \noffline \nmetacognition \ncan \nexert influence on \nour decisions \nalso in an indirect way \n. \nAll in \nal \nl, I will try to show that our ability to refer to our own minds in an offline way \n– \nbe it to mental \nstates and processes directly or indirectly \nrelated \nto specific \ndecisions \n– \nis essential for us to decide, as \nwe decide, and act, as we act.

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