Abstract: Counterfactual thinking is mental representations of alternatives to the past to the individual. This article synthesizes plenty of foreign researches of the definition, the categories and also two theories of counterfactual thinking: Norm Theory Perspective and Goal-Directed Perspective. In Norm Theory Perspective, counterfactual thinking is activated automatically and several determinants assumed to evoke it, such normality, outcome valence, closeness to alternative outcome, mutability of antecedents, salience of antecedents. In Goal-Directed Perspective, the counterfactual thinking is also activated by some cognitive factors, such as focus, emotion control and attitude.

Key words: counterfactual thinking, Norm Theory Perspective, Goal-Directed Perspective