Counterfactual thinking is a natural impulse, but we're better off when we learn to counter it. By Jason Feifer Edited by Frances Dodds Jan 20, 2023 Share ...

Counterfactual reflections are often triggered by rare episodes in which rapid, intense and clear change occurs, e.g., a novel pandemic. Counterfactual thinking helps people connect the dots of ...

Yet like any adaptation, counterfactual thinking comes at a cost. In this case, the cost is that it may facilitate moral inconsistency and corruption, allowing us to act badly without feeling bad.

The Benefit of Counterfactual Thinking Counterfactual thinking enhances mood and performance. By PT Staff published July 1, 1995 - last reviewed on June 4, 2025 ...

Sometimes counterfactual thinking makes us feel good about where we are compared with where we could be. Sometimes it makes us feel worse. Take silver medalists.

Counterfactual thinking can occur when something significant happens and we imagine how things might have turned out differently, considering alternatives to put our current reality in context.

Counterfactual thinking, the process by which individuals mentally simulate alternative outcomes to past events, is a ubiquitous cognitive phenomenon with far‐reaching psychological implications.

Key questions about counterfactual thinking center on why and how they occur and what downstream cognitive and behavioral outcomes they engender. The functional theory of counterfactual thinking aims ...

Bush is not alone in using counterfactual thinking. Coming up with what-if scenarios is how people make sense of the world. When we make a financial decision that turns out poorly, we imagine ...