An integration of hindsight bias and counterfactual thinking: Decision-making and drug courier profiles

Counterfactual thinking and hindsight bias have each generated separate, substantial bodies of research and provided insight into some areas of legal decision-making. An investigation of the relationship between counterfactual thinking and hindsight bias in a situation in which both are implicated is presented in a legal decision-making context utilizing drug courier profiles and illegal search and seizure. The findings, which demonstrate each of these cognitive processes and show a pattern of results that supports an integrative relationship between them, are discussed in the contexts of social cognition and of legal decision-making A suggested causal model of decision-making in this context is also presented Specific implications of these findings for civil actions to remedy illegal searches are discussed.