57 research outputs found
Self-report measures of individual differences in regulatory focus: a cautionary note
Regulatory focus theory distinguishes between two independent structures of strategic inclination,
promotion versus prevention. However, the theory implies two potentially independent definitions
of these inclinations, the self-guide versus the reference-point definitions. Two scales (the
Regulatory Focus Questionnaire [Higgins, E. T., Friedman, R. S., Harlow, R. E., Idson, L. C.,
Ayduk, O. N., & Taylor, A. (2001). Achievement orientations from subjective histories of success:
Promotion pride versus prevention pride. European Journal of Social Psychology, 31, 3–23] and
the General Regulatory Focus Measure [Lockwood, P., Jordan, C. H., & Kunda, Z. (2002). Motivation
by positive and negative role models: Regulatory focus determines who will best inspire us.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 854–864]) have been widely used to measure dispositional
regulatory focus. We suggest that these two scales align respectively with the two definitions,
and find that the two scales are largely uncorrelated. Both conceptual and methodological implications
are discussed
Dare to compare: fact-based versus simulation-based comparison in daily life
We examined the relative frequency of social, counter factual, past-temporal, and future-temporal
comparison in daily life using an experience-sampling method, in which participants were
randomly prompted to record thought samples using palmtop computers carried for two weeks.
Comparative thought accounted for 12% of all thoughts, and all four comparison types occurred
with equivalent frequency. Comparisons may be either fact-based (i.e., based on actuality, as in
social and past-temporal comparison) or simulation-based (i.e., based on imagination, as in
counterfactual and future-temporal comparison). Because the latter are more “unbounded,” and
because greater perceived opportunity invites greater self-improvement, we predicted and found
that counterfactual and future-temporal comparison were more likely to be upward (vs.
downward) than social and past-temporal comparison. All comparison types focused on
approach more than avoidance motives, except for counterfactuals, which showed equivalent
focus on both. These findings reveal the prominence of comparative thought in daily life, and
underscore the value an integrative theory that describes social, counter factual, or temporal
comparison using a common theoretical platform
What we regret most . . . and why
Which domains in life produce the greatest potential for regret,
and what features of those life domains explain why? Using
archival and laboratory evidence, the authors show that greater
perceived opportunity within life domains evokes more intense
regret. This pattern is consistent with previous publications demonstrating
greater regret stemming from high rather than low
opportunity or choice. A meta-analysis of 11 regret ranking studies
revealed that the top six biggest regrets in life center on (in
descending order) education, career, romance, parenting, the
self, and leisure. Study Set 2 provided new laboratory evidence
that directly linked the regret ranking to perceived opportunity.
Study Set 3 ruled out an alternative interpretation involving
framing effects. Overall, these findings show that people’s biggest
regrets are a reflection of where in life they see their largest opportunities;
that is, where they see tangible prospects for change,
growth, and renewal
The psychology of counterfactual thinking
'Kontrafaktisches Denken bezeichnet die mentale Konstruktion von Alternativen zu vergangenen Ereignissen. Dieser Artikel soll einen Überblick über die psychologischen Grundlagen kontrafaktischen Denkens gewähren. Die Autoren zeigen wie solche Gedanken bestimmte Emotionen wecken und uns im alltäglichen Leben zum Vorteil gereichen können. Zwei bestimmte psychologische Mechanismen - der contrast und der causal inference effect - erklären viele der von Psychologen beobachteten Effekte kontrafaktischen Denkens. Abschließend zeigen sie, wie und warum kontrafaktische Alternativen sowohl in erklärenden wie auch in fiktionalen Zusammenhängen (z.B. in der alternate history) eindringlich und unterhaltsam sein können.' (Autorenreferat)'Counterfactual thinking refers to mental constructions of alternatives to past events. In this overview of the psychological basis of counterfactual thinking, the authors examine how such thoughts influence emotions and carry benefits for everyday behavior. Two psychological mechanisms, contrast effects and causal inferences, can explain many of the effects of counterfactual thinking reported by psychologists. They then consider how counterfactuals, when used within expository but also fictional narratives (for example, in alternative histories), might be persuasive and entertaining.' (author's abstract
Do episodic counterfactual thoughts focus on personally controllable action?:The role of self-initiation
Counterfactual thoughts refer to alternatives to the past. Episodic counterfactual thoughts have in past research been shown to be primarily goal-directed and to engender performance improvement. Some past research supports this perspective with the observation that episodic counterfactuals center mostly on controllable action, whereas other research does not show this. We offer a theoretical resolution for these discrepant findings centering on the role of self-initiation, such that counterfactuals more often focus on internally controllable action to the extent that the circumstance is one that was self-initiated rather than initiated by others. In doing so, we disambiguate two dimensions of causal explanation: locus (self vs. other) and controllability (high vs. low) that previous studies conflated, demonstrating that variation as a function of self-initiation in the content of episodic counterfactuals occurs primarily along the former but not the latter dimension. These results support the functional theory of counterfactual thinking
Praise for regret: people value regret above other negative emotions
What do people think about the emotion of regret? Recent demonstrations of the psychological
benefits of regret have been framed against an assumption that most people find regret to be
aversive, both when experienced but also when recalled later. Two studies explored lay
evaluations of regret experiences, revealing them to be largely favorable rather than unfavorable.
Study 1 demonstrated that regret, but not other negative emotions, was dominated by positive
more than negative evaluations. In both Studies 1 and 2, although participants saw a great deal of
benefit from their negative emotions, regret stood out as particularly beneficial. Indeed, in Study
2, regret was seen to be the most beneficial of 12 negative emotions on all five functions of:
making sense of past experiences, facilitating approach behaviors, facilitating avoidance
behaviors, gaining insights into the self, and in preserving social harmony. Moreover, in Study 2,
individuals made self-serving ascriptions of regret, reporting greater regret experiences for
themselves than for others. In short, people value their regrets substantially more than they do
other negative emotions
Regret and behavior: comment on Zeelenberg and Pieters
Zeelenberg and Pieter's (2007) regret regulation theory 1.0 offers a synthesis that brings
together concepts spanning numerous literatures. We have no substantive disagreement with
their theory, but instead offer
3 observations to further aid regret researchers studying con-
sumer decision making. First, the overall arch of any regret theory must be situated within an
understanding of behavior regulation. Second, the distinction between regrets of action versus
inaction is best understood in terms of motivational implications, particularly with regard to
Higgin's
(1998) distinction between promotion and prevention focus. Third, the opportunity
principle offers a particularly clear means of summarizing the regulatory consequences of the
regret experience. Regret is an emotion pivotal for decision making, and its cognitive under-
pinning has and continues to be elucidated in research focusing on counter factual thinking
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Body camera footage leads to lower judgments of intent than dash camera footage.
Police departments use body-worn cameras (body cams) and dashboard cameras (dash cams) to monitor the activity of police officers in the field. Video from these cameras informs review of police conduct in disputed circumstances, often with the goal of determining an officer's intent. Eight experiments (N = 2,119) reveal that body cam video of an incident results in lower observer judgments of intentionality than dash cam video of the same incident, an effect documented with both scripted videos and real police videos. This effect was due, in part, to variation in the visual salience of the focal actor: the body cam wearer is typically less visually salient when depicted in body versus dash cam video, which corresponds with lower observer intentionality judgments. In showing how visual salience of the focal actor may introduce unique effects on observer judgment, this research establishes an empirical platform that may inform public policy regarding surveillance of police conduct
Dispositional optimism weakly predicts upward, rather than downward, counterfactual thinking:A prospective correlational study using episodic recall
Counterfactual thoughts center on how the past could have been different. Such thoughts may be differentiated in terms of direction of comparison, such that upward counterfactuals focus on how the past could have been better, whereas downward counterfactuals focus on how the past could have been worse. A key question is how such past-oriented thoughts connect to future-oriented individual differences such as optimism. Ambiguities surround a series of past studies in which optimism predicted relatively greater downward counterfactual thinking. Our main study (N= 1150) and six supplementary studies (N= 1901) re-examined this link to reveal a different result, a weak relation between optimism and upward (rather than downward) counterfactual thinking. These results offer an important correction to the counterfactual literature and are informative for theory on individual differences in optimism
Repetitive regret, depression, and anxiety: findings from a nationally representative survey
Past research has established a connection between regret (negative emotions
connected to cognitions about how past actions might have achieved better outcomes)
and
both
depression
and
anxiety.
in the present research, the relations
between regret, repetitive thought, depression, and anxiety were examined in
a nationally representative telephone survey. although both regret and repetitive
thought were associated with general distress, only regret was associated
with anhedonic depression and anxious arousal. Further, the interaction between
regret and repetitive thought (i.e., repetitive regret) was highly predictive of general
distress
but
not
of
anhedonic
depression
nor
anxious
arousal.
these
relations
were
strikingly
consistent
across
demographic
variables
such
as
sex,
race/ethnicity,
age, education, and income
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