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- Title
Was It My Fault? Effects of Counterfactual Mutation Focus and Self-Presentation Strategy.
- Authors
Fraser, Christopher O.
- Abstract
A recent perspective proposes that counterfactual thinking mutates controllable events that could have prevented a specific outcome, and so provides knowledge that can be used to prevent similar outcomes in the future. This implies that counterfactual thinking does not necessarily influence causal reasoning, although they may be associated in some circumstances. Results of 2 studies reported here show that, for serious outcomes where actions of the self ere antecedents and different self-actions might have prevented the outcome, there was an associated increase in self-blame. Findings from these studies also suggest that whether self-mutations are reflected in public expressions of blame will depend on whether the context favors self-serving self-presentation strategies, or mitigating strategies incorporating the face concerns of others.
- Subjects
SELF-presentation; SOCIAL interaction; INTERPERSONAL relations; SOCIAL psychology; APPLIED psychology
- Publication
Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 2001, Vol 31, Issue 5, p1076
- ISSN
0021-9029
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/j.1559-1816.2001.tb02663.x