Lecture 10- counterfactual thinking as Self-Regulation Flashcards
What are counterfactual thoughts?
thoughts about alternatives to past events-what might have been
Often in the form of conditional preposition
-Antecedent: action (if only I had..)
-Consequent: outcome (… then..)
Emerge early in life, when skills to express subjunctive ideas (2 yo)
Common across nations and cultures, but particular focus can reflect different cultural priorities
What is the function of CFT?
functional perspective
Component of behavior regulation
Especially activated by failed goal -specify what one might have done to have achieved it
CFT thus activated by problems , with aim to evoke behaviors to correct respective problem
Example of negative feedback loop model
Discrepancy current state -ideal reference state -leads to behavioral change, accompanied by affect
other perspectives
- Norm theory perspective
Momentary activation in memory of examplars of past similar experiences -form of biased judgment and decision making (exp regarding blame after unusual action)
- Mental model perspective
Basic building block of reasoning, and thus inferences;
Dovetails with reflection evaluation model - similar processes involved in temporal, social and counterfactual comparisons
-Human capacities are fixed and cannot be developed much overtime
What is the functional theory of CFT? Content-specific pathway
Problem, negative experience, falling below a reference value
Recognition activated CFT (step 1)- leads to CFT =inference linking antecedent to consequent
Causal implication fuels activation of corresponding behavior intention (step 2)- this unleashes corresponding corrective behavior (step 3)
If original problem solved, accuracy can be assumed and mechanism= is effective in regulating behavior in terms of goal pursuit
Transfer of info (regarding action that might have been taken) from CF inference to behavioral intention, which in turn influences performance of corresponding behavior
CFT content- specific pathway steps?
step 1: from problems to CFT
Problem recognition links action X to goal achievement
Negative (VS positive) outcomes and failure (VS success) activate CFT
Negative (VS positive) affect signals “alarm” in goal progress and CFT
-First step in regulatory loop is the activation of counterfactual thinking by problems or negative affect
step 2: from CFTs to intentions
Particular insight contained in the CFT regarding usefulness of action X
Upward (VS downward) CFT increases intentions for success- facilitation behaviors
- CFT bears a close and special causal link to behavioral intentions
step 3: from behavioral intentions to behavior
Intentions influence behavior
-CF theory of planned behavior
-CF implementation intentions have a stronger effect on behavior than goal intentions
CFT influence behavior
-Upward (VS downward) and additive (VS subtractive) CFT facilitate performance in lab studies and for students
-shift in mood (+ increased motivation) and strategic thoughts impact performance
CFT influence performance
CFT: Contant-neutral pathway?
CF Mindset
Enhances performance on task involving assessment of patterns of association (not generation of ideas unrelated to salient association)
-Attention shifts to similar info
Subtractive CF mindset: enhances analytical and problem-solving tasks;
Additive CF mindset: enhances performance in creative idea generation task
motivation
Negative affect from upward CFT motivate behavioral change
Additive CFT activate a promotion focus
Subtractive CFT activate a prevention focus -fit effects for task persistence.
Self -inference
Regard efficacy, mastery, confidence
Influences perceived control -which in turn influences test performance
Impacts hindsight bias (= Retrospective overconfidence) -though not yet linked to behavioral effects
- Content-neutral pathway influences behavior independently of semantic content of the respective CFT;
effect in domains not related to domain of CFT
What are different kinds of CFT?
direction -upward (now get ahead) VS downward (now not to get worse)
Upward: more functional (Specific Pathway) as focus on new actions and strategies
Both: functional (neutral pathway) as arouse CFT mindsets and impact motivation
structure -additive (STH not done) VS subtractive (delete STH done)
Additive: more specific (subtractive does not detail what to do instead), involves more creativity in options, greater clarity, specificity, and thus improvement (-specific pathway)
Focus - self VS other
Self: more useful for self-improvement (specific pathway) though one may learn from others, or benefit from mindset when thinking about others (unspecific pathway)
-Additive upward self focused CFT are most frequent in every day life
What are CFT implications?
-
for mental health
Excessive problem-solving cognitions (worry, anxiety)
Excessive negative affect (dysphoria, depression)
Deficits in CFT are associated with deficit of problem focused cognition (under achievement, work difficulty, social dysfunction)
Related to depression (excess)-regret, distress (upward CFT)
Also less functional CFT with depression
Related to anxiety (excess) -rumination (upward CFTs)
Related to schizophrenia (deficit)- impaired CFTs -step 1
Impaired intentions from CFTs - step 2 -
For cognition
comparative judgments :
Positive affect results from upward reflection, and downward evaluation -negative affect results from upward evaluation and downward reflection
goal focused cognition:
Much pursuit is automatic;
in the line with this:
problems activate CFT automatically
CFT activate intentions automatically
Intentions activate behavior automatically -
Lifespan:
Regret can be functional-depends on age and differences in perceived control
-Regret corresponds to the opportunity principle as a function of aging (reduced opportunities, leads to reduced self focused upward CFTs)
Update CF: Roese & Epstude 2017 -the functional theory of CFT: new evidence, new challenges, new insights
Contant specific pathway
a) CF influence behavioral intentions
b) behavioral intentions influence behavior
c) CF influence behavior
a) momentary consideration of a CF preposition, facilitate consideration of a corresponding behavioral intention, especially for recent VS past failures, and for specific VS general behavior
b) theory of planned action
c) additive CF resulted in superior subsequently negotiated outcomes (integrative solutions) compared to subtractive CF
Content-neutral pathway
involves the indirect effect of motives or mindsets that feed into behavior change regardless of the content of the CF per se
Wong (2007)
- Experimentally manipulated exposure to upward VS downward CF created by others
-Found that the former (VS latter) increased motivation, pertaining to a writing-revising task, and this motivation predicted subsequent performance
Tal-Or, Boninger, and Gleicher (2004)
-manipulated the direction of CF comparison
-Found That generation of upward CF elevated self-efficacy relative to generation of downward CF
CFT -mental model perspective
Explanations of the past
-Excuse for poor performance-denying resources (if I had more time) or control (if I had known) -leads to impression management and action derogation
-Imbue past with meaning (choices add meaning when compared to not imagining things having turned out differently)
-Especially useful for identifying causes when experiments are not possible (own past, historical analysis)
Preparation for the future (focus on the functional theory)
-Formation of intentions-action plans and intentions to prevent event recurring; especially useful are upward additive CFT-learning from mistake
Modulation of emotional experiences
-Regret, guilt (own action), shame (own responsibility)… relief, satisfaction, sympathy…
-Near misses (tsunami survivors) - bronze medalists
Moral judgments:
-CFT used in ”but for” arguments in Courts - CF attack of lawyers -lead to higher blame to victim;
but when changes to victim behavior, don’t change outcome-leads to higher blame to attacker
-Judgments of sympathy and compensation for victims/punishment of perpetrators affected by how readily CFT can be imagined
-CF modulate blame by interrogating whether the event was preventable - the actor could have done something differently,
and whether there was an obligation to prevent it -the actor should have done something differently
-CFTs amplify judgments of intentionality when people chose between options
-CFTs also implicated in decisions in moral dilemmas -justifying both action (killing 1 man,to save 5) or inaction (not punishing 1 man to save 5)
CFs fault lines? -How knowledge modulates CFTs plausibility
Fault lines: aspects of the representation of reality that the people zoom in on when they imagine an alternative to it.
- expectations: people create a CFT by changing an exceptional event to be normal -unusual route-usual route and leaving later-leaving earlier
- controllable events: people create a CFT in which day change an event, which is in their (or others) own control -not stopping at the bar on the way home VS traffic jam
- Actions: people, create a CFT in which they change actions (rather than inactions) -more regret etc. Presumed if people acted then if they did not.
- Recent events: people create a CFT, in which date change the most recent event in the temporal sequence of independent event -focus on the last chance junction
