Both direction and structure influenced performance on an anagram task such that upward and additive (vs. downward and subtractive) counterfactuals engendered greater improvement. The same person who wound up in the car accident might also conversely lament over whether they would have died if not for their vehicle's built-in airbag; this would be a downward counterfactual. Upward counterfactual thinking is a variation of counterfactual thinking that can be contrasted with downward counterfactual thinking. Counterfactual Thinking Definition Counterfactual thinking focus on how the past might have been, or the present could be, different. Living in neither the best nor worst of all possible worlds: Antecedents and consequences of upward and downward counterfactual thinking MN McMullen, KD Markman, I Gavanski What might have been: The social psychology of counterfactual thinking, 133-167 , 1995 Two studies examined self-efficacy as a moderator of the consequences of upward and downward counterfactual thinking. Although downward counterfactuals are generated less frequently PLOS ONE Dispositional optimism weakly predicts upward, rather than … The study also finds a positive relationship between upward counterfactual thinking and turnover intent and between downward counterfactual thinking and organizational commitment. First, I am interested in how counterfactual thinking influences affect and motivation.
Fuschia M. Sirois. Counterfactual thinking (CFT), that is thinking about what might have happened, is linked to post‐traumatic stress. 133: 6 Functions of Counterfactual Thinking. Psychologists are interested in counterfactual thinking because they seem to be intimately related to emotion, social perception, and self understanding. The schema concept has been applied empirically to four main content areas: person schemas, self schemas, role schemas and event schemas. relief are evoked by downward counterfactual thoughts; such thoughts may thus be generated strategically to repair mood. Upward counterfactual thinking is a variation of counterfactual thinking that can be contrasted with downward counterfactual thinking. If not for those “cream puffs”, the baby would have had a worse outcome. - Upward and downward Causal inference - Judgemental consequences - Affective consequences - Intention and behavioural consequences. One identified function is the contrast-based affective response to downward counterfactuals (e.g., McMullen, 1997; Roese, 1997; Taylor & Schneider, 1989) - a given outcome will be judged more favorably to the extent that a less desirable … Download Full PDF Package. ... - Counterfactual thinking has traditionally been linked to feelings of regret - "For all sad words of tongue or … > Not unless you do something like Singapore, which sells their affordable housing, permitting individual purchasers to leverage private market financing. An upward counterfactual (as opposed to a downward counterfactual) is generated when people imagine better (rather than worse) alternative states, such as having made the right choices, successfully avoiding a tragedy, or achieving a better version of oneself (Epstude and Roese, 2008, Markman and McMullen, 2003). 2015 Aug;97(2):93-8. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2015.04.016. According to the authors, whether social comparison or counterfactual thinking result in positive or negative affect not only depends on the direction of comparison (upward or downward), but also on two modes of mental simulation (i.e., reflection or evaluation) that can be activated during comparative thinking. The upward state of this type of thinking is when we think at things that could have changed the outcome of an event in better. 4.2.4.6. in the counterfactual thinking literature with regard to downward counterfactual thinking about positive events. Living in Neither the Best Nor Worst of All Possible Worlds: Antecedents and Consequences of Upward and Downward Counterfactual Thinking. Counterfactual Thinking Counterfactual thinking1-3 is defined as thoughts about what might have been or alternatives to reality. ... a. counterfactual thinking b. ability discrimination c. social comparison d. cooperative analysis Various studies have found that downward counterfactual thinking tends to be more associated with psychological health compared with upward counterfactual thinking (see McMullen & Markham, 2000). by thinking downward counterfactuals (Sanna, 2000). This research focused on persistence in general, regardless of the type of competition and whether it involved individual participants or teams. Research reveals that whether we engage in upward or downward counterfactual thinking depends most upon asked Apr 30, 2020 in Psychology by ecz923 social-and-applied-psychology Upward counterfactual thinking involves inflecting on how things could have turned out better. Procrastination and counterfactual thinking: Avoiding what might have been. A respondent shows his or her attitude, by answering a series of questions. A subset of the counterfactual literature (comprising nine studies in six papers [6–11]; see S1 Appendix) has examined the relationship between dispositional optimism and counterfactual direction of comparison, finding that optimism predicts downward (vs. upward) counterfactual thinking. The majority of research on counterfactual thinking has been organized around understanding how a past outcome might have turned out better (upward counterfactual) versus might have turned out worse (downward counterfactual), but some studies have drawn on theorizing on regulatory focus to begin to move beyond a simple upward–downward dichotomy. 37 … Researchers often distinguish between upward versus downward counterfactuals (e.g., Markman, Gavanski, Sherman, & McMullen, 1993& Roese, 1994, 1997& Sirois, 2004). Counterfactuals and their implications for perceptions of time and causality have long fascinated … Both direction and structure influenced performance on an anagram task such that upward and additive (vs. downward and subtractive) counterfactuals engendered greater improvement.
Direction influenced intentions such that upward (vs. downward) counterfactuals heightened intentions to perform success-facilitating behaviors. The latest Lifestyle | Daily Life news, tips, opinion and advice from The Sydney Morning Herald covering life and relationships, beauty, fashion, health & wellbeing Kray et al. Upward counterfactual and downward counterfactual thinking has both its pros and cons . A growing body of research suggests that counterfactual thinking after traumatic events is associated with post-traumatic stress reactions. Upward and Downward Counter-Factual Thinking There are several types of counterfactual thinking, two of them being the upward and the downward counterfactual thinking. Accordingly, the study did not analyze the The subscales were largely orthogonal and had adequate internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Study 2 Attitude survey is the most commonly used technique for measuring attitudes. Counterfactual thinking can be directional. In Study 1 (N = 634), factor analysis revealed four subscales that correspond with various types of counterfactual thinking: Nonreferent Downward, Other-Referent Upward, Self-Referent Upward, and Nonreferent Upward.
These thoughts are usually triggered by negative events that block one’s goals and desires. ... (making more downward and relatively fewer upward counterfactuals) in response to the two anxiety‐provoking scenarios, suggesting the involvement of a self‐enhancement motive (mood repair). Jessica Gamlin changed the title from Counterfactual Direction of Comparison to Dispositional optimism weakly predicts upward, rather than downward, counterfactual thinking: A prospective correlational study using episodic recall on counterfactual thinking has found that individuals often compare counterfactual alternatives to reality, leading to an affective contrast effect (Markman & McMullen, 2003; McMullen, 1997).