Epstude Kai, Roese Neal J
Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL 61820, USA.
Pers Soc Psychol Rev. 2008 May;12(2):168-92. doi: 10.1177/1088868308316091.
Counterfactuals are thoughts about alternatives to past events, that is, thoughts of what might have been. This article provides an updated account of the functional theory of counterfactual thinking, suggesting that such thoughts are best explained in terms of their role in behavior regulation and performance improvement. The article reviews a wide range of cognitive experiments indicating that counterfactual thoughts may influence behavior by either of two routes: a content-specific pathway (which involves specific informational effects on behavioral intentions, which then influence behavior) and a content-neutral pathway (which involves indirect effects via affect, mind-sets, or motivation). The functional theory is particularly useful in organizing recent findings regarding counterfactual thinking and mental health. The article concludes by considering the connections to other theoretical conceptions, especially recent advances in goal cognition.
反事实思维是对过去事件的替代方案的思考，也就是说，是对可能发生之事的思考。本文提供了反事实思维功能理论的最新阐述，表明此类思维最好从其在行为调节和绩效提升中的作用角度来解释。本文回顾了大量认知实验，这些实验表明反事实思维可能通过两种途径之一影响行为：特定内容途径（涉及对行为意图的特定信息影响，进而影响行为）和非特定内容途径（涉及通过情感、思维模式或动机产生的间接影响）。功能理论在组织有关反事实思维和心理健康的近期研究结果方面特别有用。本文最后考虑了与其他理论概念的联系，尤其是目标认知方面的最新进展。
