Main content

Home

Menu

Loading wiki pages...

View
Wiki Version:
Abstract: If we could go back and give ourselves advice to keep from making a mistake, most of us would probably take that opportunity. Using Higgins’ (1987) self-discrepancy theory as a theoretical framework, in two studies US workers on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, who were at least 30 years of age, indicated what their advice to their younger selves would be, what pivotal event was influential for them, if they had regrets, and if following this advice would bring them closer to their ideal or ought self. Across both studies, most of the advice fell into the domains of relationships, education, and selfhood. Participants said following the advice would bring them more in line with their ideal than their ought self. Following the advice also led to more positive perceptions of the current self by the high school self. Ages at which pivotal events occurred provided strong support for the reminiscence bump. Keywords: advice, regret, self-discrepancy, counterfactual thinking Documents Key: Study One Questionnaire - "Advice to My Younger Self Study One (SurveyMonkey Survey). pdf" Study One Data File - "Study One Data with Coding myyoungerself080118.xlsx" Study Two Questionnaire - "Younger Self Study Two Survey SurveyMonkey_162970744.pdf" Study Two Data File - "My Younger Self Study 2 020619 Annie and Robin Code.xlsx"
OSF does not support the use of Internet Explorer. For optimal performance, please switch to another browser.
Accept
This website relies on cookies to help provide a better user experience. By clicking Accept or continuing to use the site, you agree. For more information, see our Privacy Policy and information on cookie use.
Accept
×

Start managing your projects on the OSF today.

Free and easy to use, the Open Science Framework supports the entire research lifecycle: planning, execution, reporting, archiving, and discovery.