Rosy Retrospection 🌹
🧠 Psych - 87 / 100
Hey, there.
Let’s talk about the interesting, Rosy Retrospection 🌹.
What is it?
Rosy retrospection refers to the psychological phenomenon of people sometimes judging the past disproportionately more positively than they judge the present.
The phrase comes from the English idiom, “rose-tinted glasses,” where people see things as better than they were.
Examples -
In one group of experiments, three groups going on different vacations were interviewed before, during, and after their vacations.
Most followed the pattern of initially positive anticipation, followed by mild disappointment thereafter.
Generally, most subjects reviewed the events more favorably some time after the events had occurred than they did while experiencing them. [1]
Where does it occur?
In one of those conversations among groups of people where they are talking about the famous, “Good Ol’ Days”.
Think of the nostalgic uncle at Thanksgiving dinner remarking how “things just aren’t how they used to be.” It seems that no matter the actual current state of affairs, people will always think that times were better in the past. [2]
Why do I need to know?
Rosy retrospection is a reminder that what is vivid in memory is not always true. Our beliefs about the world, about the past, and about present-day society guide our decisions and preferences for the future.
Moreover, an inaccurate view of past events might lead to judging future events unfairly.
Takeaways: -
It is important to acknowledge the things that might have been true during the times we’re recollecting, even if it doesn’t seem that way intuitively.
References & Studies: -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosy_retrospection#Experiments
https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/rosy-retrospection/
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