How good is good luck? The role of counterfactual thinking in the perception of lucky and unlucky events

Teigen, Karl Halvor

doi:10.1002/ejsp.2420250304

Cited by 66 publications

(77 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…We predicted and found that it is the person who nearly loses everything who feels relatively lucky (cf. Teigen, 1995Teigen, , 1996, and it is this person who subsequently gambles more. We noted earlier that the implications of near wins and losses at gambling previously have been approached mainly from the perspective of counterfactual thinking (e.g., Roese, 1997).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Both of our gamblers could easily imagine an alternative outcome to the one that they actually experienced. One type of counterfactual thinking (upward) involves the mutation of events so that a better than observed outcome is imagined, and its opposite (downward) involves the mutation of events so that a worse than observed outcome is imagined (e.g., Markman, Gavanski, Sherman, & McMullen, 1993, 1995Roese, 1994;Sanna, 1996). Our near big winner likely wishes during the spin that he will land on Jackpot; that easily imagined, but unattained outcome, forms the basis for an upward counterfactual.…”

Section: Counterfactual Thinkingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The effects of near wins and near losses on self-perceived personal luck and subsequent gambling behavior

Wohl

Enzle

2003

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology

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Which person would be most likely to continue gambling? A person who has just experienced a big win or a person who has just experienced a big loss? The answer appears often to be whichever gambler feels personally luckier. Two experiments investigated how perceptions of luck, understood as a personal quality, are affected by near, but unrealized outcomes during a game of chance. In Experiment 1, a near big loss at a gambling game heightened perceptions of personal luck relative to a near big win, even though all participants actually won the same modest amount. In addition, participants who experienced a near big loss generated significantly more downward counterfactuals than did those participants in the near big win condition. Most importantly, differences in selfperceived luck influenced future gambling behavior. Participants who experienced a near big loss on a wheel-of-fortune wagered significantly more on the outcome of a subsequent game of roulette than did those participants who experienced a near big win. Experiment 2 extended these results by testing the possible influence of a different type of near outcome and by including a control group. The discussion focuses on the emerging picture of how people understand luck.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Counterfactual Thinkingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of near wins and near losses on self-perceived personal luck and subsequent gambling behavior

Wohl

Enzle

2003

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology

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“…For example, comparative negative emotions, such as regret, or disappointment, are increased by so-called "counterfactual thoughts"; thoughts about what might have been. However, comparative positive emotions are increased by counterfactual thougths too (Koo, Algoe, Wilson, & Gilbert, 2008;Teigen, 1995Teigen, , 1997Teigen & Jensen, 2011). For example, happiness with their relationship was amplified after people thought about how things would be different if their partner was absent than when they thought about the presence of their partner (Koo et al, 2008).…”

Section: Underlying Mechanismsmentioning

confidence: 94%

The bright side of brooding: State orientation increases positive emotions about positive outcomes

Putten

2014

Cognition and Emotion

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Research has by and large shown the negative effects of state orientation, that brooding over past events (i.e., state orientation) leads to more negative emotions and less well-being than quickly getting over past events (i.e., action orientation). However, this past research has primarily focused on how people cope with negative events and bad outcomes. The present research focuses on how people cope with positive events with good outcomes. Study 1 found that state-oriented people felt better after a windfall than action-oriented people. Study 2 found that state-oriented people felt not only worse when things turned out bad but also better when things turned out well than action-oriented people. Study 3 replicated the positive effect of state orientation on positive emotions with an experimental induction of action vs. state orientation. These results show that in positive situations state orientation can have emotional benefits - in other words, they show the bright side of brooding.

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“…For example, people who survive a plane crash can describe themselves as lucky, because a salient counterfactual to them compares their state to the unlucky people in the plane who did not survive (Teigen, 1995(Teigen, , 1997.…”

Section: Counterfactual Thinkingmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the counterfactual nature of envy: “It could have been me”

Ven

Zeelenberg

2014

Cognition and Emotion

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On the counterfactual nature of envy van de Ven, N.; Zeelenberg, M. General rightsCopyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.-Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research -You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain -You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright, please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. AbstractWe examined whether counterfactual thinking influences the experience of envy.Counterfactual thinking refers to comparing the situation as it is to what it could have been, and these thought processes have been shown to lead to a variety of emotions. We predicted that for envy the counterfactual thought "it could have been me" would be important. In four studies we found a clear link between such counterfactual thoughts and the intensity of envy.Furthermore, in Studies 3 and 4 revealed that a manipulation known to affect the extent of counterfactual thinking (the perception of being close to obtaining the desired outcome oneself), had an effect on the intensity of envy via counterfactual thoughts. This relationship between counterfactual thinking and the experience of envy allows for new predictions concerning situations under which envy is likely be more intense.

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How good is good luck? The role of counterfactual thinking in the perception of lucky and unlucky events

Abstract: Spontaneous references to 'luck' (e.g. in

Cited by 66 publications

References 30 publications

The effects of near wins and near losses on self-perceived personal luck and subsequent gambling behavior

The effects of near wins and near losses on self-perceived personal luck and subsequent gambling behavior

The bright side of brooding: State orientation increases positive emotions about positive outcomes

On the counterfactual nature of envy: “It could have been me”

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