Positive and negative correlates of counterfactual thinking

Abstract

The present study shows the positive and negative correlates of Counterfactual Thinking. The sample for the study was 500 young adults (18-35 years). The assessment scales used for the present study were The Brief Resilience Scale (BRS), Sense of Coherence Scale (SoC), A Short Hardiness scale, The Benign and Malicious envy scale (BeMaS), Rumination Revised Scale (RSS), Decision Making Questionnaire (DMQ), Counterfactual Thought for Negative Events Scale (CTNES) and Life-Orientation Revised Scale(LOT-R). Correlation analysis was done using SPSS (22.0) software. The findings of the study showed a significant inverse correlation between counterfactual thinking and optimism, pessimism and regret whereas a significant direct correlation was observed between counterfactual thinking and resilience, sense of coherence, hardiness, benign and malicious envy, rational and intuitive decision making, hardiness, gratitude and rumination.