Memory Studies 2016, Vol. 9(4) 376–389 © The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1750698015615660 mss.sagepub.com Collective future thought: Concept, function, and implications for collective memory studies Piotr M Szpunar University of Pennsylvania, USA Karl K Szpunar University of Illinois at Chicago, USA Abstract This article introduces and develops the concept of “collective future thought” and its implications for the interdisciplinary field of (collective) memory studies. The study of collective memory has much to gain from the complexity that interjecting future thought introduces into the various processes that are the foci of the field. This article defines the concept: the act of imagining an event that has yet to transpire on behalf of, or by, a group. Second, it proposes a more complex relation between the past, present, and future than is regularly invoked in the study of collective memory. Namely, we posit that collective future thought is simultaneously dependent on the past and itself acts as a catalyst for the (re)construction of the past. Finally, we consider the implications of the function of collective future thought for the study of collective memory and identify avenues for future interdisciplinary research. Keywords Collective future thought, collective memory, group identity, imagining, temporality People devote considerable time to thinking about the future. On a daily basis, we contemplate and anticipate a multitude of future scenarios: what we will have for dinner; what errands we will need to complete before, during, or after our workday; our plans for the weekend or an upcoming trip; and we weigh the priority of various tasks and goals for the upcoming months, years, and beyond. Indeed, one study showed that young adults think about the future an average of 59 times a day (D’Argembeau et al., 2011). Given the frequency with which we think about the future, academics from various fields of inquiry have made a concerted effort toward understanding, among other things, the cognitive and neural mechanisms that give rise to the ability to think about the future Corresponding author: Piotr M Szpunar, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, 3620 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. Email: pszpunar@asc.upenn.edu 615660MSS 0 0 10.1177/1750698015615660Memory StudiesSzpunar and Szpunar research-article 2015 Article by guest on October 6, 2016 mss.sagepub.com Downloaded from