How we feel about an outcome often depends on how close an alternative outcome was to occurring. In four experiments, we investigated whether predominantly White, middle-class, Canadian children (N = 425, Experiments 1-3) and American adults (N = 227, Experiment 4) consider close counterfactual alternatives when inferring other people's emotions. In Experiment 1, 6-year-olds (but not 4- and 5-year-olds) inferred that an agent would feel sadder about winning a mediocre prize if she later found out that a more attractive one could have easily been won. However, children of all ages failed to judge whether the better outcome could have easily happened. In Experiment 2, when 5- and 6-year-olds knew the locations of the prizes beforehand, they inferred that an agent would be equally happy about winning a mediocre prize, regardless if she almost won a better prize or not. Again, they did not recognize when the better outcome was a close counterfactual possibility. In Experiment 3, we included extra cues to the closeness of the alternative and both 5- and 6-year-olds inferred that she would feel sadder about winning a mediocre prize, and 6-year-olds acknowledged that the attractive prize was a close counterfactual alternative. In Experiment 4, adults considered close counterfactuals when inferring emotions. Our findings suggest that close counterfactuals influence children's emotion inferences before they become able to acknowledge their closeness. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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哦……好接近！儿童近距离反事实推理和情感推理。

我们对结果的看法通常取决于替代结果与发生的接近程度。在四个实验中，我们调查了主要是白人、中产阶级、加拿大儿童（N = 425，实验 1-3）和美国成年人（N = 227，实验 4）在推断其他人的情绪时是否考虑接近的反事实替代方案。在实验 1 中，6 岁的孩子（但不是 4 岁和 5 岁的孩子）推断，如果代理人后来发现可以轻松赢得更有吸引力的奖品，她会对赢得平庸的奖品感到更难过。然而，所有年龄段的孩子都无法判断更好的结果是否很容易发生。在实验 2 中，当 5 岁和 6 岁的孩子事先知道奖品的位置时，他们推断出智能体对赢得平庸的奖品同样感到高兴，不管她是否几乎赢得了更好的奖项。同样，他们没有认识到更好的结果何时是接近反事实的可能性。在实验 3 中，我们加入了关于替代品接近程度的额外线索，5 岁和 6 岁的孩子都推断她会为赢得平庸的奖品而感到难过，而 6 岁的孩子承认有吸引力的奖品很接近反事实替代。在实验 4 中，成年人在推断情绪时会考虑接近的反事实。我们的研究结果表明，在儿童能够承认他们的亲密关系之前，密切的反事实会影响他们的情绪推断。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2021 APA，保留所有权利）。我们加入了有关替代品接近度的额外线索，5 岁和 6 岁的孩子都推断她会为赢得平庸的奖品而感到难过，而 6 岁的孩子承认有吸引力的奖品是一种近似的反事实替代品。在实验 4 中，成年人在推断情绪时会考虑接近的反事实。我们的研究结果表明，在儿童能够承认他们的亲密关系之前，密切的反事实会影响他们的情绪推断。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2021 APA，保留所有权利）。我们加入了有关替代品接近度的额外线索，5 岁和 6 岁的孩子都推断她会为赢得平庸的奖品而感到难过，而 6 岁的孩子承认有吸引力的奖品是一种近似的反事实替代品。在实验 4 中，成年人在推断情绪时会考虑接近的反事实。我们的研究结果表明，在儿童能够承认他们的亲密关系之前，密切的反事实会影响他们的情绪推断。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2021 APA，保留所有权利）。我们的研究结果表明，在儿童能够承认他们的亲密关系之前，密切的反事实会影响他们的情绪推断。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2021 APA，保留所有权利）。我们的研究结果表明，在儿童能够承认他们的亲密关系之前，密切的反事实会影响他们的情绪推断。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2021 APA，保留所有权利）。