Counterfactual thoughts, Social Comparison

Just the other day I was looking for a multiplug so that i could hook up my laptop during class. Both sockets in that one power outlet were consumed and I began to think, "Why didn't I bring it today, I usually carry it with me everywhere I go" [Upward Counterfactual Thought: Reflecting on how a situation might have transpired better].


Have you ever encountered those times where you were walking on a grass patch looking straight ahead and your friend beside you suddenly screams, "Watch out for that dog &*#$ !!!".

*Phew*... thanks pal... then you step around the warm fresh pile of you know what. Just a few seconds later you both hear a yelp and spin around to find a very sexy lady frantically shaking off the poop from her shoes. "Wah heng ah !!! Could have been me!", you gleefully exclaim [Downward Counterfactual Thought: Reflecting on how a situation might have been worse]. Your friend, however approaches the lady and offers assistance and after the ordeal he returns with her number and you say, "Aiya!! I should have approached her first.. you very LuCkY ah!! [Upward Counterfactual Thought], and then, "Oh yah.. forgot I'm married hor... good thing my wife is so caring and loving [Downward Counterfactual Thought]".


Counterfactual thoughts are actually thoughts which focus on 'how a situation might have been otherwise', or 'how things might have been different'. As its name implies, it is a counter to a fact which currently exists.

As you have noticed, upward counterfactual thinking is related to negative thinking whereas upward counterfactual thinking is related to positive thoughts. Also related to upward and downward social comparison. As the textbook would have it, Upward Counterfactual focuses on 'wanting to improve' whereas for Downward Counterfactual it is on 'wanting to feel better'.

Also it is visible that upward counterfactual thinking often arouses negative emotions, which could generate ideas about how to avoid negative outcomes in future whereas downward counterfactual thinking often arouses positive emotions, which could be cleverly used to improve our mood or heal our self-esteem.

All my definitions are straight from the text...

cheers.

Drivers and Handphones

Dont' you feel irritated when your driving in the second lane on the ECP and the car in front of you is travelling at 70? Oh well, nevermind that the is going a little slow... but when you overtake the car you can't help but notice the driver fiddling with a handphone?


Imagine all the kinds of schemas and heuristics being thrown into action then. " #*$@!! No wonder so slow... SMSing lah!" or... just simply "#$%&... #$@^... $#&$ !!!!!".


Perhaps you're in a good mood today and simply brush it off.

Just imagine this is your situation and mood. Firstly, if you have been driving for a while, you most likely have experienced a multiple of such situations, most of which the driver was actually talking on the phone or sending an SMS. From these earlier experiences, you form schemas, telling yourself that if a car is moving excessivly slow, it must be because the driver is on the phone.

Perhaps over time, you would also notice other drivers talking/arguing to their passenger and would simply generalize the cause to be solely distraction.


So everytime you encounter a really slow moving car (be it on the expressway or any road) you would be really irritated and your mind would be figuring out what the driver is doing, and when you spot him on the phone you go, "I KNEW IT! MUST BE ON THE PHONE!", when in fact before that, you were voicing out to yourself that he was probably talking to his passenger [Hindsight Bias: The inclination for a person to overestimate the predictability of known outcomes]. *Anyways, you would still go, "Whatever la! On the phone or talking to passenger all the same! Still talking!"*


Then you continue driving along the expressway... thoughts of your earlier incident still fuming in your head. This time, you're on the first lane and there is this other road hogger in front of you, "Basket.. another slow driver! Confirm using handphone!" [Availability Heuristic: The inclination to base a judgement on how easily relevant examples can be remembered].

Suddenly your handphone starts ringing and you frantically search your pockets with one hand and the other on the wheel. Upon finding the phone you notice the name of the caller to be your boss. *Alamak! #$^@... Kanchiong! I forgot to email the report!!!* Suddenly all thoughts about the previous road hoggers were erased from your working memory and you look down at your phone, desperately fumbling to press the uber small 'answer call' button on your little phone.

A car overtook on your left, with the driver staring at you in full view of your fingers working on the phone. The driver seems to be mumbling some gibberish (probably vulgarities) and speeds off.

-----> It seems such situations are ever present everywhere we go and in everything we do and with everyone we meet. Of course it is not always a bad situation that we find ourselves making errors in judging a person or situation.

Probably the easiest action is to simply 'bochap' huh?