PSC 152 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Counterfactual Thinking, Counterfactual Conditional, Empathy Gap
Document Summary
Generation of alternatives to factual events - thoughts of what might have been . Ex: if only i had studied more last night, i would have done better on the. The thing you wish you had or hadn"t done must have caused the problem. When people generate counterfactuals ( if only i had studied more ), they often experience the emotion of regret. Mr. crane and mr. tees were scheduled to leave the airport on different flights, at the same time. They traveled from town in the same taxi, were caught in a traffic jam, & arrived at the airport 30 min after the scheduled departure time of their time of their flights. Mr. crane is told his flight left on time. Mr. tees is tld his flight was delayed, & just left 5 min ago. Can easily imagine making flight when it left 5 min ago. Makes counterfactual more attention-grabbing - heightens emotional reaction.
