Rosy retrospection refers to the finding that subjects later rate past events more positively than they had actually rated them when the event occurred, reminiscent of the Latin phrase memoria praeteritorum bonorum ("The past is always recalled to be good").

The effect appears to be stronger with moderately pleasant events and is usually explained as a result of minor annoyances and dislikes "fading" from memory dramatically faster than positive situations.

Reference class forecasting

Reference class forecasting

Reference class forecasting is the method of predicting the future, through looking at similar past situations and their outcomes.Reference class forcasting predicts the outcome of a planned action based on actual outcomes in a reference class of similar actions to that being forecast. The theories...

 was developed to eliminate or reduce the effect of rosy retrospection in decision making.

Experiments

In one group of experiments, three groups going on different vacations were interviewed before, during and after their journeys. Most followed the pattern of initial anticipation, followed by mild disappointment. Generally, most subjects some time later reviewed the events more favorably than they actually did while experiencing them.

See also

• Emotion and memory
  Emotion and memory
  Emotion can have a powerful impact on memory. Numerous studies have shown that the most vivid autobiographical memories tend to be of emotional events, which are likely to be recalled more often and with more clarity and detail than neutral events....
  
  
• List of cognitive biases
• Memory
  Memory
  In psychology, memory is an organism's ability to store, retain, and recall information and experiences. Traditional studies of memory began in the fields of philosophy, including techniques of artificially enhancing memory....
  
  
• Optimism bias
  Optimism bias
  Optimism bias is the demonstrated systematic tendency for people to be overly optimistic about the outcome of planned actions. This includes over-estimating the likelihood of positive events and under-estimating the likelihood of negative events. Along with the illusion of control and illusory...
  
  

• Positivity effect
  Positivity effect
  In psychology and cognitive science, the positivity effect is the tendency of people, when evaluating the causes of the behaviors of a person they like or prefer, to attribute the person's inherent disposition as the cause of their positive behaviors and the situations surrounding them as the cause...
  
  
• Reference class forecasting
  Reference class forecasting
  Reference class forecasting is the method of predicting the future, through looking at similar past situations and their outcomes.Reference class forcasting predicts the outcome of a planned action based on actual outcomes in a reference class of similar actions to that being forecast. The theories...
  
  
• Nostalgia
  Nostalgia
  The term nostalgia describes a yearning for the past, often in idealized form.The word is a learned formation of a Greek compound, consisting of , meaning "returning home", a Homeric word, and , meaning "pain, ache"...