The authors argue that the emotional consequences of positive daydreaming (i.e., spontaneously imagining the successful attainment of personal goals) depend on an individuals fear of failure. Positive daydreaming may signal an absence of positive outcomes for individuals high in fear of failure. As a consequence, positive daydreaming may induce negative emotions and attempts at mood repair in individuals high in fear of failure. Three studies (one concurrent, one experimental, and one prospective) examined this hypothesis. Study 1 found that individuals high (relative to low) in fear of failure who had recurrent positive daydreams about attaining agentic personal goals reported increased levels of depression and confusion. In Study 2, fear of failure predicted reductions in goal commitment after participants imagined the successful attainment of an agentic personal goal. Study 3 found that participants high in fear of failure reported fewer daydreams about attaining a personal goal when they were strongly committed to attain this goal.
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