ABSTRACT
Although it may be impossible to "undo things done" in a literal sense, humans have a remarkable proclivity for altering the past within the confines of the imagination. We allow ourselves to be carried beyond the realm of actual possibility through contemplation of the question, "What if?" and musings of"'f only .. . " We frequently entertain notions of how our present circumstances might be transformed by even the slightest alteration to the past. Often, thoughts of what might of been are no more than an amusing mental diversion, but they can also serve as haunting reminders of things we could have done in the past to help prevent tragic events or avoid unpleasant situations. This fascinating, emotionally rich thoughl process has long been of interest to philosophers, novelists, and playwrights, and has emerged as an intriguing topic of empirical research in social psychology over the last quarter of a century. The process of imagining alternatives to the past is termed counterfactual thinking. Counterfactual thoughts frequently take the form of a conditional statement, in which an alteration to a past event is specified and its impact inferred (e.g., "If I had not accepted a job offer overseas, my love might not have left me").
