The possible as a field of inquiry
Author(s) / Creator(s)
Glăveanu, Vlad Petre
Abstract / Description
In this editorial I introduce the possible as an emerging field of inquiry in psychology and related disciplines. Over the past decades, significant advances have been made in connected areas – counterfactual thinking, anticipation, prospection, imagination and creativity, etc. – and several calls have been formulated in the social sciences to study human beings and societies as systems that are open to possibility and to the future. However, engaging with the possible, in the sense of both becoming aware of it and actively exploring it, represents a subject in need of further theoretical elaboration. In this paper, I review several existing approaches to the possible before briefly outlining a new, sociocultural account. While the former are focused on cognitive processes and uphold the old dichotomy between the possible and the actual or real, the latter grows out of a social ontology grounded in notions of difference, positions, perspectives, reflexivity, and dialogue. In the end, I argue that a better understanding of the possible can help us cultivate it in both mind and society.
Keyword(s)
possible imagination creativity counterfactuals anticipation sociocultural psychologyPersistent Identifier
Date of first publication
2018-08-31
Journal title
Europe's Journal of Psychology
Volume
14
Issue
3
Page numbers
519–530
Publisher
PsychOpen GOLD
Publication status
publishedVersion
Review status
notReviewed
Is version of
Citation
Glăveanu, V. P. (2018). The possible as a field of inquiry. Europe's Journal of Psychology, 14(3), 519–530. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v14i3.1725
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ejop.v14i3.1725.pdfAdobe PDF - 213.01KBMD5: 18b3323a113373e8a3ef3a44078b87cb
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Glăveanu, Vlad Petre
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PsychArchives acquisition timestamp2018-11-21T10:00:31Z
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Made available on2018-11-21T10:00:31Z
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Date of first publication2018-08-31
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Abstract / DescriptionIn this editorial I introduce the possible as an emerging field of inquiry in psychology and related disciplines. Over the past decades, significant advances have been made in connected areas – counterfactual thinking, anticipation, prospection, imagination and creativity, etc. – and several calls have been formulated in the social sciences to study human beings and societies as systems that are open to possibility and to the future. However, engaging with the possible, in the sense of both becoming aware of it and actively exploring it, represents a subject in need of further theoretical elaboration. In this paper, I review several existing approaches to the possible before briefly outlining a new, sociocultural account. While the former are focused on cognitive processes and uphold the old dichotomy between the possible and the actual or real, the latter grows out of a social ontology grounded in notions of difference, positions, perspectives, reflexivity, and dialogue. In the end, I argue that a better understanding of the possible can help us cultivate it in both mind and society.en_US
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Publication statuspublishedVersion
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Review statusnotReviewed
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CitationGlăveanu, V. P. (2018). The possible as a field of inquiry. Europe's Journal of Psychology, 14(3), 519–530. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v14i3.1725
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ISSN1841-0413
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Persistent Identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12034/1127
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Persistent Identifierhttps://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.1319
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Language of contenteng
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PublisherPsychOpen GOLD
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Is version ofhttps://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v14i3.1725
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Keyword(s)possibleen_US
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Keyword(s)imaginationen_US
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Keyword(s)creativityen_US
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Keyword(s)counterfactualsen_US
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Keyword(s)anticipationen_US
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Keyword(s)sociocultural psychologyen_US
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Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)150
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TitleThe possible as a field of inquiryen_US
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DRO typearticle
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Issue3
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Journal titleEurope's Journal of Psychology
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Page numbers519–530
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Volume14
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Visible tag(s)Version of Record