Regular ArticleAffective Contrast and Assimilation in Counterfactual Thinking☆
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How counterfactual thinking affects willingness to consume green restaurant products: Mediating role of regret and moderating role of COVID-19 risk perception
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2022, Journal of Experimental Social PsychologyCitation Excerpt :Several studies provide support for these proposals. For example, reflective (vs. evaluative) processing in the context of an upward counterfactual on achievement-related tasks (e.g., solving anagrams or analogies) has been shown in studies employing experimental designs to result in greater more positive/less negative affect (Markman, McMullen, & Elizaga, 2008; McMullen, 1997; see also Yilmaz, Kim, & Ko, 2021) and enhanced self-perceptions (Markman, Elizaga, Ratcliff, & McMullen, 2007). Other studies employing experimental designs have shown that engaging in evaluative (vs. reflective) thinking following an upward counterfactual (e.g., concerning one's performance on an anagram task) leads to greater persistence on a subsequent task (Markman, McMullen, Elizaga, & Mizoguchi, 2006), as well as improved performance and generation of more useful strategies for succeeding in the future (Markman et al., 2008).
Differential contribution of anterior and posterior midline regions during mental simulation of counterfactual and perspective shifts in autobiographical memories
2020, NeuroImageCitation Excerpt :AMs can also be manipulated upon retrieval by mentally simulating alternative ways in which past personal events could have occurred but did not – a common psychological phenomenon known as episodic counterfactual thinking – CFT (De Brigard and Parikh, 2019; Roese and Epstude, 2017). Extant evidence has shown that directional CFT (imagining better or worse outcomes) typically elicits emotional responses, such as regret, relief, or simply an increase in the emotional intensity associated with the original event (McMullen, 1997; Roese, 1997). Just as with perspective shifts, recent findings suggest that engaging in CFT during AM retrieval modifies phenomenological characteristics of AMs (De Brigard, Hanna, St. Jacques and Schacter, 2019), and might contribute to regulating their emotional properties (De Brigard and Hanna, 2015; De Brigard and Parikh, 2019).
“What if…?”: Vividness and frequency of counterfactual thinking in survivors of terrorism
2024, Applied Cognitive PsychologyFor Better and For Worse: Frequent Gamblers Use Dual Counterfactuals to Justify Continued Gambling
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This research was supported by NIMH grant MH10460. Address correspondence and reprint requests to Matt McMullen, Psychology Department, Montana State University-Billings, Billings, MT 59101.