McCrea Sean M
Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.
J Pers Soc Psychol. 2008 Aug;95(2):274-92. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.95.2.274.
Researchers interested in counterfactual thinking have often found that upward counterfactual thoughts lead to increased motivation to improve in the future, although at the cost of increased negative affect. The present studies suggest that because upward counterfactual thoughts indicate reasons for a poor performance, they can also serve as excuses. In this case, upward counterfactual thoughts should result in more positive self-esteem and reduced future motivation. Five studies demonstrated these effects in the context of self-handicapping. First, upward counterfactual thinking was increased in the presence of a self-handicap. Second, upward counterfactual thoughts indicating the presence of a self-handicap protected self-esteem following failure. Finally, upward counterfactual thoughts that protect self-esteem reduced preparation for a subsequent performance as well as performance itself. These findings suggest that the consequences of upward counterfactuals for affect and motivation are moderated by the goals of the individual as well as the content of the thoughts.
对反事实思维感兴趣的研究人员常常发现，向上的反事实思维会导致未来改进的动力增加，尽管代价是负面影响增加。目前的研究表明，由于向上的反事实思维表明了表现不佳的原因，它们也可以作为借口。在这种情况下，向上的反事实思维应该会导致更积极的自尊，并降低未来的动力。五项研究在自我设限的背景下证明了这些影响。首先，在存在自我设限的情况下，向上的反事实思维会增加。其次，表明存在自我设限的向上反事实思维在失败后保护了自尊。最后，保护自尊的向上反事实思维减少了对后续表现的准备以及表现本身。这些发现表明，向上反事实思维对情感和动机的影响受到个体目标以及思维内容的调节。
