Back to the future

Temporal perspective in the explanation of events

Bibliographic Data

ID12166137
AuthorsDeborah J Mitchell (University of Pennsylvania, corresponding author), J Edward Russo (0000-0003-2897-7545, Cornell University), Nancy Pennington
Year1989
Volume2
Issue1
Pages25-38
Publication date1989-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Behavioral Decision Making (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0894-3257 • E-ISSN: 1099-0771
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/bdm.3960020103
OpenAlexW2062181660
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited17

Prospective hindsight involves generating an explanation for a future event as if it had already happened; i.e., one goes forward in time, and then looks back. In order to examine how shifts in perspective might influence people's perceptions of events, we investigated two possible factors: temporal perspective (whether an event is set in the future or past) and uncertainty (whether the event's occurrence is certain or uncertain). In the first experiment, temporal perspective showed little influence while outcome uncertainty strongly affected the nature of explanations for events. Explanations for sure events tended to be longer, to contain a higher proportion of episodic reasons, and to be expressed in past tense. Evidence from the second experiment supports the view that uncertainty mediates not the amount of time spent explaining, but rather subjects' choice of explanation type. The implications of these findings for the use of temporal perspective in decision aiding are discussed

Cognitive psychology · Economics · Event (particle physics · Hindsight bias · Outcome (game theory · Perception · Perspective (graphical · Set (abstract data type · Time perspective · Computer Science · Cultural Differences and Values · Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics · Psychological and Temporal Perspectives Research · Psychology · Social Psychology · Artificial Intelligence

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