Subjective Assessments and Evaluations of Change: Some Lessons from Social Cognition Research

Selected judgmental processes that bear on how individuals determine if things have changed in their life, and whether these changes are for the better or worse, are reviewed. In the absence of systematic research into this issue, we draw on related research into the construal and evaluation of the past, present, and future to offer educated guesses, to identify theoretical gaps, and to highlight issues for future research.