Ersner-Hershfield, H., Galinsky, A., Kray, L., & King, B. (2010). Psychological Science, 21(10), 1479-1486.
Four studies examined the relationship between counterfactual origins—thoughts about how the beginning of organizations, countries, and social connections might have turned out differently—and increased feelings of commitment to those institutions and connections. Study 1 found that counterfactually reflecting on the origins of one’s country increases patriotism. Study 2 extended this finding to organizational commitment and examined the mediating role of poignancy. Study 3 found that counterfactual reflection boosts organizational commitment even beyond the effects of other commitment-enhancing appeals and that perceptions of fate mediate the positive effect of counterfactual origins on commitment. Finally, Study 4 temporally separated the counterfactual manipulation from a behavioral measure of commitment and found that counterfactual reflection predicted whether participants e-mailed social contacts 2 weeks later. The robust relationship between counterfactual origins and commitment was found across a wide range of companies and countries, with undergraduates and M.B.A. students, and for attitudes and behaviors.