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Counterfactual thinking in the wake of trauma Davis, Christopher G.
Abstract
Counterfactuals generated by people who have experienced traumatic life events were examined to elucidate their significance for the coping process. In Study 1, 93 respondents were interviewed 4-7 years after the loss of their spouse or child in a motor vehicle accident. In Study 2, 124 respondents were interviewed 3 weeks and 18 months following the death of their child to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Across these two studies it was found that (a) counterfactuals that undid the traumatic event were commonly reported; (b) the focus of counterfactuals was typically on one's own (in)actions, rather than on the behavior of others; (c) the more freguently respondents were undoing the event, the more distress they reported; and (d) this relation held even after controlling for more general ruminations. In Study 3, 106 respondents were interviewed one week following their spinal cord injury. In this study, self-implicating counterfactuals were shown to predict ascriptions of self-blame, controlling for causal attributions and foreseeability estimates. Taken together, these field data suggest that counterfactuals play an important role in how people cope with traumatic life events. Possible roles that these counterfactual thoughts might play are discussed.
Item Metadata
Title |
Counterfactual thinking in the wake of trauma
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Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
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Date Issued |
1995
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Description |
Counterfactuals generated by people who have experienced
traumatic life events were examined to elucidate their
significance for the coping process. In Study 1, 93 respondents
were interviewed 4-7 years after the loss of their spouse or
child in a motor vehicle accident. In Study 2, 124 respondents
were interviewed 3 weeks and 18 months following the death of
their child to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Across these two
studies it was found that (a) counterfactuals that undid the
traumatic event were commonly reported; (b) the focus of
counterfactuals was typically on one's own (in)actions, rather
than on the behavior of others; (c) the more freguently
respondents were undoing the event, the more distress they
reported; and (d) this relation held even after controlling for
more general ruminations. In Study 3, 106 respondents were
interviewed one week following their spinal cord injury. In this
study, self-implicating counterfactuals were shown to predict
ascriptions of self-blame, controlling for causal attributions
and foreseeability estimates. Taken together, these field data
suggest that counterfactuals play an important role in how people
cope with traumatic life events. Possible roles that these
counterfactual thoughts might play are discussed.
|
Extent |
339593 bytes
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Genre | |
Type | |
File Format |
application/pdf
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Language |
eng
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Date Available |
2009-04-16
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
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DOI |
10.14288/1.0088181
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URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
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Graduation Date |
1995-11
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Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
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Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.