People often expect a future brighter than the present. However, expectations of steep improvement have been linked to worse psychological functioning, perhaps because rosy predictions often do not come to pass. Should we conclude that expecting a highly satisfying future is maladaptive? We wondered instead whether the adaptiveness of these trajectories may depend on other belief systems which accompany them. Across three studies we found that although individuals high and low in depressive symptoms both expected a better future, they differed in their beliefs about whether satisfaction comes from primarily controllable or uncontrollable sources. People lower in depressive symptoms believed that satisfaction is impacted by controllable behaviors which predicted motivation to engage in well-being supportive behaviors. In contrast, those higher in depressive symptoms believed satisfaction came from uncontrollable factors, accounting for less inclination to engage in well-being facilitating behaviors. These insights may help clarify how people’s expectations for a better tomorrow may only sometimes be accompanied by adaptive beliefs about how to get there.

人们常常期望未来比现在更加光明。然而，对急剧改善的期望与较差的心理功能有关，也许是因为乐观的预测往往不会实现。我们是否应该得出这样的结论：期待一个高度令人满意的未来是适应不良？相反，我们想知道这些轨迹的适应性是否可能取决于伴随它们的其他信念系统。在三项研究中，我们发现，尽管抑郁症状高低的个体都期望有一个更好的未来，但他们对于满意度主要来自可控还是不可控来源的看法不同。抑郁症状较低的人认为，满意度受到可控行为的影响，这些行为预测了参与幸福支持行为的动机。相比之下，那些抑郁症状较高的人认为满意度来自于无法控制的因素，导致他们不太愿意参与促进幸福感的行为。这些见解可能有助于阐明人们对更美好明天的期望有时可能只是伴随着如何实现这一目标的适应性信念。