Bridging and Exploring Counterfactual Reasoning and Emotions in Childhood

Counterfactual reasoning refers to the ability to imagine alternative versions of past events and can give rise to counterfactual emotions, such as regret and relief. These capacities are fundamental to children’s understanding of action-outcome relations and to future-oriented behaviors. Developmental research has observed a gap between children’s early success in counterfactual reasoning tasks and the later emergence of counterfactual emotions. To account for this developmental gap, this review synthesizes empirical findings and highlights the role of spontaneous counterfactual reasoning. We further propose a theoretical framework that clarifies the dynamic interplay between counterfactual reasoning and emotions in promoting children’s adaptive decision making. Finally, we outline the implications of these counterfactual constructs for child development.