Counterfactual reasoning for regretted situations involving controllable versus uncontrollable events: the modulating role of contingent self-esteem

Meredith R Wilkinson; Linden J Ball; David Alford

doi:10.5709/acp-0168-4

Counterfactual reasoning for regretted situations involving controllable versus uncontrollable events: the modulating role of contingent self-esteem

Adv Cogn Psychol. 2015 Mar 31;11(1):22-30. doi: 10.5709/acp-0168-4. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Meredith R Wilkinson¹, Linden J Ball², David Alford³

Affiliations

¹ Division of Psychology, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK.
² School of Psychology, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK.
³ School of Psychology, University of East London, London, UK.

Abstract

We report a study that examined the modulating impact of contingent self-esteem on regret intensity for regretted outcomes associated with controllable versus uncontrollable events. The Contingent Self-Esteem Scale (e.g., Kernis & Goldman, 2006) was used to assess the extent to which a person's sense of self-worth is based on self and others' expectations. We found that there was an influence of self-esteem contingency for controllable but not for uncontrollable regret types. For controllable regret types individuals with a high contingent (i.e., unstable) self-esteem reported greater regret intensity than those with a low contingent (i.e., stable) self-esteem. We interpret this finding as reflecting a functional and adaptive role of high contingent self-esteem in terms of mobilizing the application of counterfactual reasoning and planning mechanisms that can enable personal expectations to be achieved in the future.

Keywords: contingent self-esteem; controllable events; counterfactual reasoning; regret; uncontrollable events.