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The Effect of Counterfactual Potency on Behavioral Intentions

Kim, Woo J.
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6994-1982
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1572295842182237

Abstract Details

2019, Master of Arts, Miami University, Psychology.
Not all counterfactual thinking about “what might have been” equally affects behavioral intentions. This research examined the hypothesis that counterfactual potency (CP), the multiplicative effect of the likelihoods of the “if” and “then” clauses of counterfactuals, would influence the strength of counterfactuals’ effect on behavioral intentions. Study 1 used vignettes varying in mutability levels and found that participants who read highly mutable vignettes formed stronger CP and relevant intentions. However, CP did not mediate the effect of mutability on intentions. In Study 2, I attempted to develop a manipulation to experimentally test the facilitating effects of CP on intentions, but the creation of a CP manipulation using modal verbs was not successful. Study 3 was designed to examine if two mutability determinants, closeness and norm violation, had distinct effects on CP and intention. The results indicated that violating the norm enhanced CP and both directly and indirectly (via CP) increased intentions. An additional study, described in the general discussion, was conducted and found that greater CP led to faster intention formation. Taken together, the current research provides initial evidence that more potent counterfactuals strengthen and facilitate behavioral intentions.
Amy Summerville (Advisor)
Heather Claypool (Committee Member)
Allen McConnell (Committee Member)
48 p.
Psychology; Social Psychology
counterfactual thinking; likelihood perception; intention formation; mutability

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Kim, W. J. (2019). The Effect of Counterfactual Potency on Behavioral Intentions [Master's thesis, Miami University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1572295842182237

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Kim, Woo. The Effect of Counterfactual Potency on Behavioral Intentions. 2019. Miami University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1572295842182237.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Kim, Woo. "The Effect of Counterfactual Potency on Behavioral Intentions." Master's thesis, Miami University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1572295842182237

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

miami1572295842182237
268
© 2019, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License The Effect of Counterfactual Potency on Behavioral Intentions by Woo J. Kim is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by Miami University and OhioLINK.