“What was meant to be” versus “what might have been”: Effects of culture and control on counterfactual thinking.
- 1 July 2022
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Psychological Association (APA) in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
- Vol. 123 (1), 1-27
- https://doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000295
Abstract
Counterfactual thinking is a ubiquitous feature of daily life with links to causal reasoning. Therefore, we argue that cultures that vary in perceptions of what controls important life outcomes may also vary in counterfactual thought. Investigating White American and United Arab Emirates-based Arab participants' counterfactual potency and spontaneous counterfactual thinking, we found that Arab participants endorsed counterfactual thoughts less than White Americans, and were unaffected by the routine nature of action when negative outcomes were severe. Differences in counterfactual endorsement in response to severe negative outcomes were linked to greater beliefs in divine control and fate in Arab participants, and not to religiosity, reinforcing an important role of perceptions of control in counterfactual thought. However, although reporting less counterfactual endorsement overall, Arabs showed a similar pattern of counterfactual thought to White Americans when negative outcomes were mild, or when reporting spontaneous thought. Arabs likewise showed a similar pattern of regret as White Americans regardless of event severity, reporting more regret when outcomes resulted from unusual action. These patterns suggest a dissociation between affect and cognition, and between what kind of outcomes are subject to counterfactual scrutiny in Arab participants.Keywords
Funding Information
- American University of Sharjah
This publication has 43 references indexed in Scilit:
- Improving the future by considering the past: The impact of upward counterfactual reflection and implicit beliefs on negotiation performanceJournal of Experimental Social Psychology, 2012
- Counterfactual thinking facilitates behavioral intentionsJournal of Experimental Social Psychology, 2009
- Dare to compare: Fact-based versus simulation-based comparison in daily lifeJournal of Experimental Social Psychology, 2008
- The Functional Theory of Counterfactual ThinkingPersonality and Social Psychology Review, 2008
- The neglected 95%: Why American psychology needs to become less American.American Psychologist, 2008
- Counterfactual thinking following negative outcomes: evidence for group and self‐protective biasesEuropean Journal of Social Psychology, 2007
- The debiasing effect of counterfactual mind-sets: Increasing the search for disconfirmatory information in group decisionsOrganizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 2003
- Cultural Practices Emphasize Influence in the United States and Adjustment in JapanPersonality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2002
- Links between race/ethnicity and cultural values as mediated by racial/ethnic identity and moderated by gender.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1997
- A guide to constructs of control.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1996