If Only I Had Acted Differently: Reasons and Actions in Counterfactual Thinking

Suppose an action of yours leads to a bad outcome. You are plagued by thoughts of ‘if only I hadn’t acted’. But suppose you are reminded of a very good reason why you acted. Will the reason diminish your tendency to think ‘if only’ about your action? Our aim is to report experimental results on how the reasons for actions can influence ‘if only’ thoughts.