Article1994

Counterfactual thinking: From what might have been to what may be.

David S. Boninger · Faith Gleicher · Alan J. Strathman

173 citations0/0 files storedJournal of Personality and Social Psychology

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Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes Emotions and Moral Behavior

Abstract

Consideration of counterfactual alternatives to negative outcomes, particularly when the counterfactuals change those outcomes, has repeatedly been shown to intensify regret and judgments of blame. Two studies examined the influence of the relevance of the counterfactual to future behavior on Ss' judgments of regret and self-blame after a negative outcome. Results indicated that a dispositional tendency to consider the future consequences of current behavior can ameliorate the negative affect caused by thinking about how a negative outcome could have been avoided. Results also suggested that this amelioration is particularly likely to occur when Ss are induced to focus on the future

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References

1954A Theory of Social Comparison Processes 1959The Social Psychology of Groups 1987Emotion knowledge: Further exploration of a prototype approach.1986Norm theory: Comparing reality to its alternatives.1990What's basic about basic emotions?1994The consideration of future consequences: Weighing immediate and distant outcomes of behavior.1982The simulation heuristic 1979Characterological versus behavioral self-blame: Inquiries into depression and rape.

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