The direction of fit of affective forecasting

Affective forecasting is the mental action of predicting what kind of emotional state we will be in at some future time. Affective forecasting plays a crucial role in our decision-making, emotion regulation and in our life in general. This paper is about the direction of fit of affective forecasting. I argue that affective forecasting, unlike other forecasts, for example, the weather forecast, does not have a mind-to-world, but rather a world-to-mind direction of fit: it prescribes, not describes. The consequences of this way of thinking about affective forecasting are considered for philosophical questions about decision-making.