Affective Determinants of Counterfactual Thinking

Pre-Counterfactuals and Anticipated Emotions: Factors Affecting the First Bid in Name-Your-Own-Price Auctions

“…When bids are rejected in NYOP auctions, counterfactual thoughts for better possible scenarios may occur (e.g., I wish my bid had been accepted) (Roese & Hur, 1997;Roese & Olson, 1997;Sanna & Turley, 1996). Previous studies suggest that counterfactual thoughts also occur when the first offer is accepted because the bidder may think about how he or she could have done better (e.g., If I had bid lower, I could have gotten a better deal) (Galinsky et al, 2002;Roese & Hur, 1997;Sanna & Turley, 1996).…”

“…Previous studies suggest that counterfactual thoughts also occur when the first offer is accepted because the bidder may think about how he or she could have done better (e.g., If I had bid lower, I could have gotten a better deal) (Galinsky et al, 2002;Roese & Hur, 1997;Sanna & Turley, 1996). These counterfactuals can influence future behaviors (e.g., bidding lower next time) (Boninger et al, 1994;Roese, 1994).…”

“…In NYOP auctions, bidders tend to place relatively low first bids without much expectation that they will be accepted because they can bid again immediately after rejections. Thus, if an immediately accepted bid is an unexpected outcome, such an unexpected outcome is likely to evoke a counterfactual thought (Galinsky et al, 2002;Kahneman & Miller, 1986;Roese & Hur, 1997;Sanna & Turley, 1996). Once a bid is accepted, we believe it is natural that attention shifts from the winning of the bid to the amount of the bid to a certain degree (e.g., "I could have bid lower").…”

“…Counterfactual thinking, which is defined as thoughts that occur when people imagine alternatives different from what has occurred in the past, is a cognitive rule of mental simulation (Roese & Hur, 1997). Previous studies suggest that people may simulate different possible outcomes before making a decision in order to avoid undesired outcomes (Hetts et al, 2000;McConnell et al, 2000).…”

Regret as autobiographical memory

“…Counterfactuals are more spontaneously evoked by negative than by positive outcomes (Boniger, Gleicher & Stratham, 1994;Gleicher et al, 1990;Kahneman & Miller, 1986;Landman, 1987;Roese & Hur, 1997) though this is not always the case (Markman, Gavanski, Sherman & McMullen, 1993;Roese & Olson, 1993a,b;.…”