RACISM, COUNTERFACTUAL THINKING, AND JUDGMENT SEVERITY

Two contrasting models of the effects of motivational influences on th e relationship between counterfactual thinking and social judgment wer e tested, using a modified version of Wells and Gavanski's (1989) cab driver vignette. Undergraduates (N-208) assigned blame to a negligent white or black target after imagining how the target's alternative beh avior could have either easily or improbably averted two accident-rela ted fatalities. Results suggested that motivational variables such as racism moderate the relationship between counterfactual thinking and j udgment severity rather than directly affect the counterfactual thinki ng process itself. Implications for current conceptions of both counte rfactual thinking and racism are discussed.