Affective Contrast and Assimilation in Counterfactual Thinking

Abstract

Previous work has shown that counterfactual thinking, or the imagination of alternatives to reality, yields an affective contrast effect: Thinking about how things could have been better (an upward counterfactual) brings about negative affect, and thinking about how things could have been worse (a downward counterfactual) brings about positive affect. The present research documents affective assimilation: under certain conditions, upward counterfactuals lead to positive affect and downward counterfactuals lead to negative affect. In two studies, participants recalled recent autobiographical events, and were instructed to make specific types of counterfactuals about those events. Results from two studies showed that a focus on a vividly imagined counterfactual simulation (termed an experiential mode) yields affective assimilation, and an evaluative focus on the factual event (termed an evaluative mode) yields affective contrast.