Essay On Counterfactual

The text mentions “how in 1994, Roese proposed that thinking counterfactually simply is functional in two ways such as; preparative function (for which helps us to avoid the recurrence of negative outcomes) and affective function (thinking in ways to help individuals feel better)” (Chapter 6, pg. 62). The text also mentions about “how when one or any individual fails to achieve a goal, it can often lead to a negative affect which in turn can either activate upward or downward counterfactual thinking” (Chapter 6, pg. 62). In regards to Additive upward counterfactual thinking, this is when an individual uses their mind to come up with a response towards an event or situation on how things could have been better if and so forth. As for subtractive …show more content…
Possible reasons why we engage in counterfactual thinking is when an individual thinks about the possible causes of why a certain situation happened or how if I did something differently, the situation could have been different in order to help individuals come up with ways to help them produce actions that would lead to better outcomes for the future. Thinking counterfactually could in-fact help individuals understand as well as control their feelings in a better understanding after a certain downfall had occurred in order to try and prevent another downfall. An example would be, I often engage in counterfactual thinking in regards towards past events. I often think, what if I did something differently, would the situation ended differently. Lately, I am engaging in counterfactual thinking on how if I didn’t lose my son Nolan at 18 weeks, I would already have a healthy baby boy in my arms instead of grieving over my son right now. What if I didn’t lose my son, what would my son look like and etc? Even though, I did nothing wrong and nothing I did caused my son to die, I often think what if I did something differently, would my son still be alive? I think this is an example of me engaging in counterfactually