The Role of Controllability and Foreseeability in Children's Counterfactual Emotions

Bibliographic Data

ID9646138
AuthorsAlicia K Jones (0000-0003-2453-0412, The University of Queensland, corresponding author), Shalini Gautam (0000-0002-3739-0247, The University of Queensland), Jonathan Redshaw (0000-0002-7729-1577, The University of Queensland)
Year2025
Volume96
Issue3
Pages1098-1111
Publication date2025-05-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueChild Development (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0009-3920 • E-ISSN: 1467-8624
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/cdev.14224
PMID39950683
OpenAlexW4407581378
LanguageEN
References cited39

Counterfactual emotions such as regret may aid future decision-making by encouraging people to focus on controllable features of personal past events. However, it remains unclear when children begin to preferentially focus on controllable features of such events. Across two studies, Australian 4–9-year-olds (N = 336, 168 females; data collected during 2021–2022) completed tasks that led to positive or negative personal outcomes, and then reported their emotions toward different aspects of these tasks. In both studies, younger children unexpectedly reported stronger sadness toward uncontrollable or unforeseeable aspects of negative events, and only by 8–9 years did many children report stronger sadness toward controllable or foreseeable aspects. The tendency to focus on more functional counterfactuals may therefore emerge relatively late in development

Child development · Cognitive psychology · Controllability · Counterfactual thinking · Developmental psychology · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics · Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Psychology · Social Psychology

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