Emotion in good luck and bad luck: predictions from simplicity theory

2011/08/22 by Jean-Louis Dessalles, Dessalles, Jean-Louis
Arts and Humanities · Computer Science · Decision Sciences · Neuroscience · #Cognitive Science and Education Research #Computational Complexity (cs.CC) #Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics #FOS: Computer and information sciences #Other Computer Science (cs.OH) #Philosophy and History of Science #cs.CC #cs.OH

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1108.4882

jld-10020801; Proceedings of the 32nd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, Austin, TX : United States (2010)

arxiv created 2011/08/22 · openalex publication_date 2011/08/22 · arxiv updated 2011/08/25 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

The feeling of good or bad luck occurs whenever there is an emotion contrast between an event and an easily accessible counterfactual alternative. This study suggests that cognitive simplicity plays a key role in the human ability to experience good and bad luck after the occurrence of an event.

Citations

• Regret Theory: An Alternative Theory of Rational Choice Under Uncertainty
• Coincidences and the encounter problem: A formal account
• A structural model of intuitive probability

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