Collective future thinking in Cultural Dynamics

Humans think about the future to act in the present, not only personally, but
also collectively. Collective future thinking (CFT) is an act of imagining a future
on behalf of a collective. This article presents a theoretical analysis of the role of
CFT in cultural dynamics. CFT includes collective prospection about probable
futures and imaginations about utopian and dystopian possible worlds as the
best- and worst-case scenarios. CFT motivates collective self-regulatory activities to steer probable futures towards utopias and away from dystopias, driving a cultural transformation while also acting as a force for cultural maintenance, animating cultural dynamics at the micro-psychological level. Empirical research showed that collective futures are often seen to involve progress in human agency, but a decline in community cohesion, unless collective self regulation is undertaken. In line with the theoretical proposition, CFT consistently motivated collective self-regulatory activities that are seen to improve future community cohesion and to move the current culture closer to their utopian vision around the world despite significant cross-national variabilities. A macro-level cultural dynamical perspective is provided to interpret crossnational similarities and differences in CFT as a reflection of nations’ past historical trajectories, and to discuss CFT’s role in political polarisation and collective self-regulation.