The psychology of chance encounters and life paths.

Psychological theories have neglected the fundamental issue of what determines people's life paths. The central thesis of this article is that chance encounters play a prominent role in shaping the course of human lives. In a chance encounter the separate chains of events have their own causal determinants, but their intersection occurs fortuitously rather than through deliberate plan. Some fortuitous encounters touch only lightly, others leave more lasting effects, and still others branch people into new trajectories of life. A science of psychology cannot shed much light on the occurrence of fortuitous encounters, but it can provide the basis for predicting the impact they will have on human lives. An analysis is presented of personal fac- tors and milieu properties that govern the branching power of chance encounters.