Which is more harmful to our self-concept: upward or downward counterfactual thinking? Put your views in a blog/TIMES moodle. Justify your opinion. Support your answers/opinions through in-depth research.
According to Epstude K. and Roese N.J., counterfactual thinking centers on insights into what might have been different if some details of the past had been altered. In my opinion, upward counterfactual thinking brings more harm to our self-concept when compared to downward counterfactual thinking. Downward counterfactual thinking focuses on how things could have been worse for an individual while upward counterfactual thoughts focuses on how things might have turned out better. As such, it can be said that upward counterfactual thoughts often bring forth negative emotions. For example, Maria is about to sit for her first piano practical examination. To prepare for her exam, she practices her piano three times a week for one hour, every week for one month. When she receives her examination results, she sees that she was only five marks away from being rewarded with a Distinction. As a result, Maria condemns/blames herself for not practicing for longer hours a week to secure that Distinction. The self-blame that that Maria holds, should she continue to linger on it, could eventually lead to depression which could lead to other harmful emotions and thoughts. If our self-concept continually runs on such thoughts, there is a high risk that individuals will suffer from depression due to the immense number of regrets that would accumulate from repeated "If only I had..." thoughts. Upward counterfactual thinking brings the possibility of hurting and destroying one's self-image.
By Chew Yan-Y (Public Relations)
