From the desk of: Glenn Geher Ph.D.
To: Entrepreneur
Re: The Psychology of What If
Date: Friday, September 21, 2018 at 4:47 a.m.
Dear Entrepreneur,
Sometimes when we look back, we think about how things could have been better:
- If only I had gotten that part in that play when I was in high school… then I would have gotten into that great theater program at the Ivy League school and then…
- When my boyfriend in college transferred to a school across the country, he and I were through. I really wish that never happened—my life would be so much better if I were still with him…
- I wish had taken that other job instead of this one when I was in my 20s. I have no idea what I was thinking. My life would be 100% better now if only I had done so…
We call this “upward” counterfactual thinking (see Studer, 2016), and it can be pretty depressing.
Sometimes when we look back, we think about how things could have been worse:
- Looking back, thank goodness I ended up majoring in secondary education. I just love teaching high school kids and I just love traveling each summer. In retrospect, this was the perfect job for me!
- Every day, I am grateful that I left my husband and ended up with Harold. The divorce was stressful and things were tricky for a while, but, looking back, I would have been miserable now if I’d stayed with that bum.
- I am so glad that I chose to move to California on a whim when I was in my twenties! At the time, it seemed like a crazy idea. Now I have a great family and great job—and I surf five days a week. Best decision I ever made!
We call this “downward” counterfactual thinking (see Studer, 2016), and it can actually be pretty uplifting.
The Benefits of Downward Counter-Factual Thinking:
Various studies have found that downward counter-factual thinking tends to be more associated with psychological health compared with upward counter-factual thinking (see McMullen & Markham, 2000). In cases in which downward counter-factual thinking leads to negative feelings, people are motivated to take productive actions. And when downward counter-factual thinking leads to positive emotions, people feel a degree of life satisfaction. So looking back is not all bad.
In a recent study that explored counter-factual thinking in the context of intimate relationships, Lauren Studer (2016), an alumna of our graduate program in psychology, found that downward counter-factual thinking in intimate relationships was associated with relatively positive relationship outcomes, such as relationship satisfaction (a result that parallels a past finding from my own research teams work; see Geher et al., 2005).
Interestingly, she also found that women were more likely than were men to engage in relationship-specific downward counter-factual thinking. In other words, women were more likely than men to reflect on how past relationships are best off dissolved. Men seem to engage in less of this kind of thinking.
The Benefits and Costs of Upward Counter-Factual Thinking:
Upward counter-factual thinking can have some benefits. If you didn’t study for an exam and then you bombed it, you may well think about this fact the next time that you have an exam scheduled. And this all may well motivate you to study effectively next time.
This said, upward counter-factual thinking often is associated with a pessimistic style (“If only I had never done that!!!”). And in a relationship context, it has been found to correspond to relatively low levels of relationship satisfaction (see Studer, 2016).
So going back and thinking about how you really messed something up is not really a great formula for happiness and satisfaction in life.
One Direction:
Rumination is a hallmark sign of depression (see Keller & Nesse, 2006). In the context of counter-factual thinking, rumination can be thought of as the large-scale and constant employment of upward counter-factual thinking in one’s psychological life. When such thinking, characterized by an “I really messed up” mentality, comes to permeate one’s daily psychology, negativity follows.
If you find yourself in this kind of upward counter-factual-thinking trap, you really should take steps to get out of that trap and move forward. At the end of the day, whatever you did years ago, the past is the past and time only moves in one direction. Of this, we can be sure.
Bottom Line:
To some extent, your life can be thought of as the sum of the choices that you have made. Of course, some choices are better than others. Looking back at past decisions (i.e., engaging in counter-factual thinking) is only natural in humans. And, as described above, it’s not all bad. That said, if you find yourself living too much in the past and largely focusing on things that you could have done better, you probably, as hard as it may be, want come up with ways to move on and focus on the present and on the future. After all, this is a one-way ride. And the trip is brief.
To Your Success,
Glenn Geher, Ph.D.
About the Author:
Glenn Geher, Ph.D., is a professor and chair of psychology at the State University of New York at New Paltz.
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