The Self Not Taken: How Alternative Selves Develop and How They Influence Our Professional Lives

Abstract

This article introduces the construct of alternative selves—self-redefining counterfactuals that are part of the self-concept. This construct adds the parallel time line of what could have been to the temporal framework underlying theories of the self. I discuss how alternative selves develop and how they influence people's professional lives, and I outline the implications of this construct for research on the self-concept, life stories, and counterfactual thinking.

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