Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here to submit your manuscript to SPPS

Click here to sign up for SAGE Journal Email Alerts today!

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Web of Science (17)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by McMullen, M. N.
Right arrow Articles by Markman, K. D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by McMullen, M. N.
Right arrow Articles by Markman, K. D.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Downward Counterfactuals and Motivation: The Wake-Up Call and the Pangloss Effect

Matthew N. McMullen

Montana State University-Billings, mcmullen{at}msu-b.edu

Keith D. Markman

Ohio Wesleyan University

Three studies examined the motivational implications of thinking about how things could have been worse. It was hypothesized that when these downward counterfactuals yield negative affect, through consideration of the possibility of a negative outcome, motivation to change and improve would be increased (the wake-up call). When downward counterfactuals yield positive affect, through diminishing the impact of a potentially negative outcome, motivation to change and improve should be reduced (the Pangloss effect). Results from three studies supported these hypotheses. Studies 1 and 2 showed that a manipulation of the counterfactual made about an investment influenced decisions toward that investment. Study 3 showed that students’ academic motivation was influenced by a manipulation of the type of downward counterfactual they made after an exam and that affect mediated the relationship between the counterfactual and motivation.

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 26, No. 5, 575-584 (2000)
DOI: 10.1177/0146167200267005
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Pers Soc Psychol RevHome page
K. Epstude and N. J. Roese
The Functional Theory of Counterfactual Thinking
Personality and Social Psychology Review, May 1, 2008; 12(2): 168 - 192.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Management & Organizational HistoryHome page
E. M. Wong
Narrating near-histories: The effects of counterfactual communication on motivation and performance
Management & Organizational History, November 1, 2007; 2(4): 351 - 370.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Pers Soc Psychol RevHome page
K. D. Markman and M. N. McMullen
A Reflection and Evaluation Model of Comparative Thinking
Personality and Social Psychology Review, August 1, 2003; 7(3): 244 - 267.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Pers Soc Psychol BullHome page
A. D. Galinsky, V. L. Seiden, P. H. Kim, and V. H. Medvec
The Dissatisfaction of Having Your First Offer Accepted: The Role of Counterfactual Thinking in Negotiations
Pers Soc Psychol Bull, February 1, 2002; 28(2): 271 - 283.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Pers Soc Psychol BullHome page
K. D. Markman and P. E. Tetlock
Accountability and Close-Call Counterfactuals: The Loser Who Nearly Won and the Winner Who Nearly Lost
Pers Soc Psychol Bull, November 1, 2000; 26(10): 1213 - 1224.
[Abstract] [PDF]