University Honors

Counterfactual thinking occurs when a person considers whether an alternative course of action in the past could have changed the outcome of the present. One type, upward counterfactual thinking, imagines how the past could have been better. Previous research finds that upward counterfactuals influence an individual's motivation, but these findings have varied. For example, these counterfactuals may motivate someone to improve, prompting them to learn from their mistakes. However, such counterfactuals may prove dysfunctional when they are considered at length and cause. Less is known about how other factors, such as risk, can influence these thoughts. It was predicted that individuals who consider upward counterfactuals will have lower levels of motivation compared to individuals who did not consider a counterfactual. Additionally, individuals who were in a high-risk situation will have lower levels of motivation compared to those who were in a low-risk situation. Lastly, risk will moderate the relationship between upward counterfactual thinking and motivation will be stronger under conditions of high risk, whereas it will be weaker under conditions of low risk. Results from a scenario study of college students found that, although non-significant, individuals who were assigned the low-risk condition had higher motivation compared to those who were assigned the high-risk condition and those assigned the combined upward counterfactuals and low-risk condition had higher motivation compared to the upward counterfactual and high-risk condition, the control and low-risk condition, and the control and high-risk condition.