Jul 26, 2019 05:43 AM
http://newsstand.clemson.edu/mediarelati...hindsight/
INTRO: How many times have you wished you could give your younger self a piece of advice? Robin Kowalski, professor in Clemson University’s psychology department, is willing to bet there’s not a single person who hasn’t thought about this at least once in the last year. Her research indicates the odds are pretty good that she’s right.
Kowalski’s results have revealed that many people have these thoughts multiple times per week, and for many this mental exercise is anything but futile. Her latest article in the Journal of Social Psychology, “If I knew then what I know now: Advice to my younger self,” analyzes the results of two studies of more than 400 individuals 30 years of age or older. Kowalski said the results have been truly revealing about the nature of regret, how people can use it to self-actualize and what areas people tend to fixate on in their later years.
You shouldn’t dwell on the past, right? “My findings would suggest otherwise as long as you’re not obsessing about it,” Kowalski said. One third of the participants in the study spontaneously think about advice they would offer their younger selves at least once a week, which is a significant number.
These people — and those who may think about the past a little less — can benefit from doing so because it helps them conceptualize and even realize their “ideal self,” which reflects who the person thinks they would like to be. “Following the advice helped participants overcome regret,” Kowalski said. “When participants followed their advice in the present, they were much more likely to say that their younger selves would be proud of the person they are now.”
Kowalski also found that almost half of participants said the advice they would offer their younger selves influenced their description of their future selves, whether that was “successful and financially stable” or “old and decrepit.” (MORE)
INTRO: How many times have you wished you could give your younger self a piece of advice? Robin Kowalski, professor in Clemson University’s psychology department, is willing to bet there’s not a single person who hasn’t thought about this at least once in the last year. Her research indicates the odds are pretty good that she’s right.
Kowalski’s results have revealed that many people have these thoughts multiple times per week, and for many this mental exercise is anything but futile. Her latest article in the Journal of Social Psychology, “If I knew then what I know now: Advice to my younger self,” analyzes the results of two studies of more than 400 individuals 30 years of age or older. Kowalski said the results have been truly revealing about the nature of regret, how people can use it to self-actualize and what areas people tend to fixate on in their later years.
You shouldn’t dwell on the past, right? “My findings would suggest otherwise as long as you’re not obsessing about it,” Kowalski said. One third of the participants in the study spontaneously think about advice they would offer their younger selves at least once a week, which is a significant number.
These people — and those who may think about the past a little less — can benefit from doing so because it helps them conceptualize and even realize their “ideal self,” which reflects who the person thinks they would like to be. “Following the advice helped participants overcome regret,” Kowalski said. “When participants followed their advice in the present, they were much more likely to say that their younger selves would be proud of the person they are now.”
Kowalski also found that almost half of participants said the advice they would offer their younger selves influenced their description of their future selves, whether that was “successful and financially stable” or “old and decrepit.” (MORE)