Upward vs Downward Counterfactual thinking

Name: Tan tee may                 Student ID: 0323549

Counterfactual thinking is the action of comparing a current or past event to an alternative event. There are two types of counterfactuals, upward and downward. Upward counterfactual thinking compares us with people that are superior. On the other hand, downward counterfactual thinking compares us to individuals that are inferior. Both counterfactuals have its benefits and disadvantages but I personally believe that upward counterfactual thinking is more damaging to an individual’s mental health.

Downward counterfactuals improve an individual’s mood and ego, because he feels more fortunate in comparison. Upward counterfactuals do not provide such comfort, but the individuals receive knowledge and motivation to work harder in order to enhance their performance in the future. On a more negative note, these counterfactuals may also provoke regret and increase negative feelings one may have towards themselves. This negativity may decrease the individual’s self-esteem and confidence. Subsequently, they will start to look at everything pessimistically, even leading themselves to believe that their past achievements were not good enough. This perception is very damaging to their mental health and can result in self-harming or severe depression.

When one practices too much upward counterfactual thinking, the individual may become lethargic, unmotivated for future action. Although this is a mental way to protect oneself from regret, the inaction could result in many consequential missed opportunities, creating a cycle of ‘doing nothing.’ (Tykocinski and Pittman, 1998). Often this situation occurs only when the individual practices too much downward counterfactual, causing the individual to be comfortable with his surroundings and not making the effort to improve himself. As aforementioned, this conditioning can also result from too much upward comparison. However, upward comparison has a significantly more damaging outcome, as the individual believes that he is a failure.

Generally, we feel bad when we fail to live up to our goals. Comparing our failures to other’s achievements further increases feelings of inadequacy compared to the person we practice our upward counterfactuals on. Therefore, the conclusion is that I believe upward counterfactual thinking is more harmful to our self-concept.

 REFERENCES:

    Mandel, D. a. (2007). The Psychology of Counterfactual thinking.

Miller, M. a. (2006). Depression, Control, and Counterfactual thinking. Social and Clinical Psychology , 227.