The Functional Theory of Counterfactual Thinking

By K. Epstude, N. Roese. 2008

888 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Subfields: Applied Psychology, Experimental and Cognitive Psychology, General Decision Sciences

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In Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

In General Decision Sciences

Citations in the corpus

Toward Causal Representation Learning (2021, positive): “These findings are consistent with work in cognitive psychology [65], arguing that counterfactuals allow to reason about the usefulness of past actions and transfer these insights to corresponding behavioral intentions in future scenarios [145], [199], [203].”
Towards Causal Representation Learning (2021, positive): “These findings are consistent with work in cognitive psychology [64], arguing that counterfactuals allow to reason about the usefulness of past actions and transfer these insights to corresponding behavioral intentions in future scenarios [203, 199, 145].”
Learning from yesterday's mistakes to fix tomorrow's problems: When functional counterfactual thinking and psychological distance collide (2012, neutral): “…or no”のキー押し（ターゲット行動意図判断） Results and Discussion 反応時間(RTs)の外れ値：プライム内の判定平均よりも高い RTs＞2.5SD、低い RTs＜2.5SD （RT の 3.3％）各試行のブロック内で外れ値は、反事実プライム判断（近い将来 0.9％、遠い将来 0.8％）と統制プライム判断（近い将来 0.7％、遠い将来 0.9％）で等しく分布ブロック順序は結果に影響与えていなかった参加者が「yes」（全試行の 80％）と回答した意思決定の RTsについて …”
Out of Sight, Out of Time? A Meta–Analytic Investigation of Procrastination and Time Perspective (2014, background): “…it may be functionally analogous to upward counterfactual thoughts, thoughts about how things could have been better had choices and actions in response to failed goals been different that can be instrumental in correcting behaviours that may impede future success (Epstude & Roese, 2008, 2011).”
Justified ethicality: Observing desired counterfactuals modifies ethical perceptions and behavior (2011, positive): “…people's (emotional) interpretation of factual reality (Mandel & Dhami, 2005; Zeelenberg et al., 1998) and their subsequent decisions (Markman, McMullen, & Elizaga, 2008; Morris & Moore, 2000; Reichert & Slate, 2000; Ritov & Baron, 1995; Roese, 1994; for a review see, Epstude & Roese, 2008).”
What We Regret Most Are Lost Opportunities: A Theory of Regret Intensity (2009, background): “It is frequently suggested that the function of regret is to help people learn from their mistakes (e.g., Coricelli et al., 2005; Epstude & Roese, 2008).”
Counterfactual Story Reasoning and Generation (2019, background): “Due to their prevalence in common reasoning situations, counterfactuals have been studied in a wide range of disciplines, including psychology (Epstude and Roese, 2008),”
Coming to grips with the past: Effect of repeated simulation on the perceived plausibility of episodic counterfactual thoughts (2013, neutral): “Research has shown that increased counterfactual thinking is associated with anxiety and excessive nervousness (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2000; Rachman et al., 2000; Roese et al, 2008).”
Repetitive regret, depression, and anxiety: findings from a nationally representative survey (2009, background): “…& maniar, 1997 ), but also offers psychological benefits in terms of signaling the presence of problems and stimulating learning from experience (epstude & Roese , 2008; saffrey, summerville, & Roese, 2008; Zeelenberg & pieters , 2007). indeed, the absence of regret (or, more specifically, the…”
Extending the Machine Learning Abstraction Boundary: A Complex Systems Approach to Incorporate Societal Context (2020, background): “inference and goal-directed counter-factual thinking [28, 110] — that various disciplines refer to as mental models [15, 33, 86].”
The Future of Memory: Remembering, Imagining, and the Brain (2012, background): “…on the topic of counterfactual simulations— that is, constructing alternative versions of what could have happened in the past (e.g., Byrne, 2002; Epstude and Roese, 2008)—but few studies have examined the neural basis of such simulations (e.g., Barbey et al., 2009) or how they are related to…”
The maximizing mind-set (2014, result): “Consistent with this idea, past research has shown that upward counterfactual comparisons are generated in far greater numbers than downward counterfactual comparisons (Epstude and Roese 2008; Nasco and Marsh 1999).”
Explaining by Removing: A Unified Framework for Model Explanation (2020, background): “In psychology, the process of removing an event to understand its influence on an outcome is called a subtractive counterfactual (Epstude and Roese, 2008), and this is precisely how removal-based explanations work.”
The Grateful Workplace: A Multilevel Model of Gratitude in Organizations (2017, background): “…is consistentwith the notion of counterfactual thought (Kahneman &Miller, 1986) and is particularly relevant to gratitude when directed toward less desirable alternative outcomes, such as working for an organization with less helpful colleagues or fewer opportunities (Epstude & Roese, 2008).”