Imagination: Definition, Benefits, & Examples​

By Charlie Huntington, M.A., Ph.D. Candidate
Imagination, in simple terms, is an ability to think about things that don’t actually exist around us. This unique human talent has many psychological benefits.​
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Every once in a while, I hear a melody in my head that is brand new to my ears. It seems to have come from nowhere, and if I am lucky and patient, I can usually reproduce it on the guitar with enough trial and error. Where did this melody come from? How did I generate something that had not previously existed—something I had never witnessed or done before?
My imagination brought this moment to life. It is one of our unique gifts as humans that we can create things from scratch, things that before that moment were simply thoughts in our heads. The example from my own life is a minor one, but let’s not underestimate the power of this human ability. The intensity of a single person’s imagination gave us the magical world of Harry Potter—and the literal hell of the Holocaust. As technology continues to enhance and reshape our lives, it seems most anything we can imagine we can create. So in what ways is this human superpower beneficial to us? Could there be drawbacks too?
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What Is Imagination? (A Definition)​

We can define imagination as the ability to create mental representations of things that are not present in the physical space around us (Markman et al., 2009). This means the ability to remember our past, envision a future, and explore hypothetical scenarios that might be unfolding right now. For example, if I ask myself what my younger sister is doing right now, all of the thoughts and images I will generate are acts of imagination, because she is 2,000 miles away and I do not know what a typical Tuesday night looks like for her.
 
Imagination often involves, but does not require, having a mental image in our heads (Nishizaka, 2003). The generation of ideas often involves abstract concepts that have no physical form, and we might say the same thing for emotions as well. For example, as a currently childless person, I can nonetheless conjure up thoughts and feelings that I would likely (hopefully?) experience if I was a father watching my toddler roam around my backyard. While I can create a mental image of the toddler and the backyard, I don’t need those images to experience the abstract sensations that I associate with my theoretical fatherhood.
 
In other words, we can imagine both that which is real and that which is not real, with or without a mental representation of it (Nishizaka, 2003). In this sense, imagination is almost more like the hypothetical experiencing of something that does not exist right here, right now. To imagine is to explore a possibility outside the present moment.
 
There is a long tradition in Western philosophy of trying to understand imagination, and it usually defines imagination in some way as both thinking and sensation (Flory, 1996). In this sense, imagination is at the intersection of what we can experience with our five senses and our powers of cognition.
 
It seems to be this way so we can put our imagination to use; specifically, it is theorized that the ability to imagine things developed for a number of very adaptive reasons (Markman et al., 2009). Imagination allows us to think about and simulate the future—the better to prepare for what may happen. It gives us the ability to consider other ways we could behave or exist in the world, the experiences of other people, and the ability to revisit the past. If we could not try out all these different realities in our heads, we might not be very good at handling unexpected situations as they unfold. In fact, many expert athletes and musicians rehearse their physical motions and routines endlessly in their own heads so those things will feel as automatic as possible when it comes time to perform.​

Opposite of Imagination​

The opposite of imagination is being firmly and completely grounded in reality. If imagination is the space where we consider that which cannot be surely known, then living in the opposite is focusing only on what’s in front of us, what we can sense moment to moment.

If you try, you might find that this is actually a very difficult kind of existence to, well, imagine. Our brains work so effortlessly, automatically, and endlessly to imagine what’s coming next, or recall the fun thing we did last week, or entertain us during a boring car ride or lecture. We might get closer to the opposite of imagination by trying to get inside the experience of a pet dog or cat. These animals (I’m pretty sure about this) cannot conceptualize where you are when you leave them at home and head out into the world. You simply were present, and now you are not, and maybe the garage door will open again and you will return.​

Benefits of Imagination

The primary benefit of having an imagination may be that it gives you the ability to “test out” possible futures (Gaesser, 2013). This ability to simulate potential scenarios helps us avoid all sorts of ineffective or even harmful behaviors. By seeing how, based on prior knowledge and experience, certain scenarios could play out, we might even avoid mistakes entirely!
 
Exercising our imaginations seems to be adaptive in other ways too. For example, use of the imagination is associated with stronger memory abilities and experiencing more empathy (Gaesser, 2013). The ability to imagine other people’s experiences can make us more effective in social interactions and more able to bond with other people (Rabinowitz & Heinhorn, 1985).
 
Psychologists have a word for the ability to use one’s imagination well: imaginativeness (McMullen & Kier, 2017). Imagination is understood as both a general and a domain-specific skill, meaning that some people are more naturally imaginative than others, and each person may be more effectively imaginative in certain areas than in others. Speaking for myself, I know that I do not have much of a visual imagination; I cannot conceive of interesting visual artwork or imagery, nor can I create those kinds of things. But my verbal and musical imagination is pretty robust—at least, people tell me I sometimes write innovative and engaging articles and songs.​

Examples of Imagination

We use imagination whenever we engage with our memories (Gaesser, 2013). This might seem strange or counterintuitive: Aren’t memories factual events that actually occurred in our lives? What role would imagination have in that? In fact, the remembering of events is both recall and re-creation, so there is plenty of imagination involved. How we use our imaginations when remembering things depends on a lot of other variables. For example, in couples therapy, I see my clients recall events in their relationships with more positive interpretations when they feel close to their partners and more negative interpretations when they are feeling disconnected.

We also use imagination whenever we think about the future or about other, alternative worlds (Zittoun & Gillespie, 2015). For example, I spend a lot of time wondering what climate change means for me and my family and loved ones. Imagination is a useful tool for exploring those scenarios. What would it be like if I had to move? Where could I see myself living happily? What would it be like to raise children during a climate crisis?

Among the other uses of the imagination are: (1) thinking about things that we know exist but are not near us, (2) helping us create representations of things in our minds, and (3) creating things that are purely fantastical, have never existed, and will likely never exist (Ricoeur, 1994). To give an example of each, if I’m daydreaming on the bus ride home today, I might think a bit about my parents and what they’re doing in their condominium, then make a map in my mind of the next trail run I will do. Finally, I might pull the fantasy novel I’m reading out of my backpack and use my imagination to do my best to visualize the phenomena in the novel that simply cannot exist here and now.

Imagination and Learning

Imagination is an essential skill for learning. For example, studies with children indicate that having more imaginative abilities is associated with better social skills and social relationships (Bauer et al., 2021). This is likely because it takes imagination to get inside the experience of another person. Children who can take the perspective of another person more readily will be able to interact effectively with other kids.
 
In a similar way, imagination is a key ingredient in developing skills of executive functioning, which is crucial for effective learning (Bauer et al., 2021). Young children spend endless hours in imaginative play, pretending to be all manner of real-life or fantasy characters and concocting elaborate situations of their own design. Through this play, they learn to express themselves, to advocate for how they want the play to go, and to regulate themselves through the excitement of play and through negotiating with their peers. In this way, they are learning how to socialize, play, and self-regulate.

Imagination and Technology​

Our imaginations are shaped by the cultures we live in and the technologies available to us (Cangià & Zittoun, 2020). For example, the average person in Japan (a collectivist society) and the United States (an individualist society) might imagine very different solutions to the problem of a disagreement with one’s supervisor at work or hearing a friend make a politically incorrect remark at a dinner party.
 
The shifts of technology also impact our ability to imagine (Zittoun & Cerchia, 2013). For example, it was probably difficult for people to imagine space flight until they had gotten used to airplanes being around. Early imaginings about robots are far from the reality of robotic technology today because folks had little understanding of how such technology might realistically be created. And nowadays, with technology becoming ever smaller and more sophisticated, it gets easier and easier for us to imagine the day when such technology will be incorporated directly into our own bodies.

Imagination and Art

Another way to think about imagination is that it is how we close the gaps in our experience (Pelaprat & Cole, 2011). The things we cannot understand, or do not have enough information to understand, are things we make as much sense of as we can by using our imagination. For example, across almost all cultures, even after the advent of modern science, there are important religious and spiritual theories or stories told about things such as why the moon exists, why thunder and lightning happen, and how to promote rainfall or snowfall. 

In the realm of art, imagination is used in a similar way: to close the gap between what we are thinking about and what exists in the real world (Zittoun & Cerchia, 2013). It reminds me of a statement commonly attributed to artists, which is something to the effect of “I couldn’t find the book/song/painting I was looking for, so I went ahead and made it myself.”

Imagination at Work

People who are more naturally imaginative are likely to generate more effective ideas and respond more effectively to challenges at work (McMullen & Kier, 2017), even after taking into consideration a variety of other important workplace skills. This suggests that, especially for professional roles that involve problem-solving, imagination is an important asset.

Quotes on Imagination

  • “Hate is a lack of imagination.” — Graham Greene
  • “We all have an obligation to daydream. We have an obligation to imagine. It is easy to pretend that nobody can change anything, that society is huge and the individual is less than nothing. But the truth is individuals make the future, and they do it by imagining that things can be different.”  — Neil Gaiman
  • “I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” — Albert Einstein
  • “There is the strange power we have of changing facts by the force of the imagination.” — Virginia Woolf
  • “All that is the work of the human hand, the whole world of culture, is distinguished from the natural world because it is a product of human imagination and creativity based on imagination.” — L.S. Vygotsky

Articles Related to Imagination

​Want to learn more? Check out these articles:

Books Related to Imagination

If you’d like to keep learning more, here are a few books that you might be interested in.

Final Thoughts on Imagination

One of my favorite findings on imagination is that we can cultivate our imaginations, at least in specific areas of our lives, through intentional practice (McMullen & Kier, 2017). So if you would like to have a more active and rich inner experience of the world, I encourage you to engage your imagination on the topics that matter most to you. If you want a little more information about the science behind everything in this article, I would recommend watching the following video:

Video: The Science of Imagination​

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