Improving the past and the future: A temporal asymmetry in hypothetical thinking

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

Volumn 142, Issue 1, 2013, Pages 23-27

  Ferrante, Donatella ^a   Stragá, Marta ^a   Girotto, Vittorio ^b   Walsh, Clare ^c  

^a UNIVERSITY OF TRIESTE   (Italy)

^b UNIVERSITY IUAV OF VENICE   (Italy)

^c UNIVERSITY OF PLYMOUTH   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Controllability; Counterfactual thinking; Hypothetical thinking; Prefactual thinking; Preparatory functions

Indexed keywords

ADULT; ARTICLE; ATTENTION; CONTROLLED CLINICAL TRIAL; CONTROLLED STUDY; HUMAN; IMAGINATION; MOTIVATION; PROBLEM SOLVING; RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL; THINKING;

ADULT; ATTENTION; HUMANS; IMAGINATION; MOTIVATION; PROBLEM SOLVING; THINKING;

MLCS; MLOWN;

EID: 84880942069     PISSN: 00963445     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1037/a0027947     Document Type: Article

References (24)

1. Burns, Z. C., Caruso, E. M., & Bartels, D. M. (in press). Predicting premeditation: Future behavior is seen as more intentional than past behavior. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. Advance online publication. doi:10.1037/a0024861
2. Byrne, R. M. J. (2005). The rational imagination. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
3. Camille, N., Coricelli, G., Sallet, J., Pradat-Diehl, P., Duhamel, J. R., & Sirigu, A. (2004, May 24). The involvement of the orbitofrontal cortex in the experience of regret. Science, 304, 1167-1170. doi:10.1126/science.1094550
4. Caruso, E. M. (2010). When the future feels worse than the past: A temporal inconsistency in moral judgment. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 139, 610-624. doi:10.1037/a0020757
5. Caruso, E. M., Gilbert, D. T., & Wilson, T. D. (2008). A wrinkle in time: Asymmetric valuation of past and future events. Psychological Science, 19, 796-801. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02159.x
6. D'Argembeau, A., & Van der Linden, M. (2004). Phenomenal characteristics associated with projecting oneself back into the past and forward into the future: Influence of valence and temporal distance. Consciousness and Cognition, 13, 844-858. doi:10.1016/j.concog.2004.07.007
7. Epstude, K., & Roese, N. (2008). The functional theory of counterfactual thinking. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 12, 168-192. doi:10.1177/1088868308316091
8. Girotto, V., Ferrante, D., Pighin, S., & Gonzalez, M. (2007). Post-decisional counterfactual thinking by actors and readers. Psychological Science, 18, 510-515. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01931.x
9. Girotto, V., Legrenzi, P., & Rizzo, A. (1991). Counterfactual thinking: The role of events controllability. Acta Psychologica, 78, 111-133. doi: 10.1016/0001-6918(91)90007-M
10. Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1982). The simulation heuristic. In D. Kahneman, P. Slovic, & A. Tversky (Eds.), Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases (pp. 201-211). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
11. Kray, L. J., George, L. G., Liljenquist, K. A., Galinsky, A. D., Tetlock, P. E., & Roese, N. J. (2010). From what might have been to what must have been: Counterfactual thinking creates meaning. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98, 106-118. doi:10.1037/a0017905
12. Markman, K. D., Gavanski, I., Sherman, S. J., & McMullen, M. N. (1993). The mental simulation of better and worse possible worlds. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 29, 87-109. doi:10.1006/jesp .1993.1005
13. McConnell, A. R., Niedermeier, K. E., Leibold, J. M., El-Alayli, A. G., Chin, P. P., & Kuiper, N. M. (2000). What if I find it cheaper someplace else? Role of prefactual thinking and anticipated regret in consumer behavior. Psychology and Marketing, 17, 281-298. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1520-6793(200004)17:4<281::AID-MAR2>3.0.CO;2-5
14. McCrea, S. M. (2008). Self-handicapping, excuse making, and counterfactual thinking: Consequences for self-esteem and future motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 274-292. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.95.2.274
15. Morewedge, C. K., Gilbert, D. T., Myrseth, K. O., Kassam, K., & Wilson, T. D. (2010). Consuming experiences: Why affective forecasters overestimate comparative value. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46, 986-992. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2010.07.010
16. Petrocelli, J. V., & Sherman, S. J. (2010). Event detail and confidence in gambling: The role of counterfactual thought reactions. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46, 61-72. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2009 .09.013
17. Pighin, S., Byrne, R. M., Ferrante, D., Gonzalez, M., & Girotto, V. (2011). Counterfactual thoughts by experienced, observed, and narrated events, Thinking & Reasoning, 17, 197-211. doi:10.1080/13546783.2011 .561598
18. Pronin, E., & Ross, L. (2006). Temporal differences in trait self-ascription: When the self is seen as an other. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90, 197-209. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.90.2.197
19. Roese, N. J. (1997). Counterfactual thinking. Psychological Bulletin, 121, 133-148. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.121.1.133
20. Roese, N. J., & Hur, T. (1997). Affective determinants of counterfactual thinking. Social Cognition, 15, 274-290. doi:10.1521/soco.1997 .15.4.274
21. Sanna, L. J. (1996). Defensive pessimism, optimism, and stimulating alternatives: Some ups and downs of prefactual and counterfactual thinking. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 1020-1036. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.71.5.1020
22. Van Boven, L., & Ashworth, L. (2007). Looking forward, looking back: Anticipation is more evocative than retrospection. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 136, 289-300. doi:10.1037/0096-3445 .136.2.289
23. Van Boven, L., Kane, J., & McGraw, A. P. (2009). Temporally asymmetric constraints on mental simulation: Retrospection is more constrained than prospection. In K. D. Markman, W. M. P. Klein, & J. A. Suhr (Eds.), Handbook of imagination and mental simulation (pp. 131-147). New York, NY: Psychology Press.
24. Zauberman, G., & Lynch, J. (2005). Resource slack and propensity to discount delayed investments of time versus money. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 134, 23-37. doi:10.1037/0096-3445 .134.1.23