Amy Summerville, PhD, Miami University, presents "How Far the Road not Taken? Time and Distance in Counterfactual Thought and Regret".
Thoughts about "what might have been," known as counterfactual thoughts, and the associated emotional experience of regret are an important part of the cognitive and emotional landscape. This colloquium will explore the ways that time and psychological distance affect regret and counterfactual thinking. Whether or not individuals perceive ongoing opportunity to meet their goals differentially affects the initial experience of regret versus change in regret over time. Likewise, due to the differential emphasis on low-level self-enhancement versus high-level self-improvement goals for psychologically close versus distant events, both temporal and social distance affect whether individuals focus on how things could have been better or how things might have been worse in response to a negative event. These findings suggest that considering time and distance offer important insights into the motivated nature of counterfactual thought and regret.
For more information, visit the Department of Psychology website.
