Looking back at an experience through rose-colored glasses

Abstract

The benefit of looking on the bright side of an experience is part of everyday vernacular and is supported empirically in academic research. The proposition here is that when people need to justify repeating an activity, they will try to reconstruct the past as more positive. The positive memory provides them with ammunition to rationalize a desired activity. Participants were offered either an incentive or a disincentive to replay a game. Participants in the disincentive condition who indicated a desire to replay, needed to justify the replay decision more than other participants. These participants were more likely to strategically select moments from a previous experience to construct a positive retrospective evaluation. A plausible alternative explanation for the results, distorting the salient moments of the experience, is tested and rejected.