Regret and Other Emotions Related to Decision-Making: Antecedents, Appraisals, and Phenomenological Aspects

Abstract

Objectives: The mainstream position on regret in psychological literature is that its necessary conditions are agency and responsibility, that is, to choose freely but badly. Without free choice, other emotions, such as disappointment, are deemed to be elicited when the outcome is worse than expected. In two experiments, we tested the opposite hypothesis that being forced by external circumstances to choose an option inconsistent with one’s own intentions is an important source of regret and a core component of its phenomenology, regardless of the positivity/negativity of the post-decision outcome. Along with regret, four post-decision emotions – anger toward oneself, disappointment, anger toward circumstances, and satisfaction – were investigated to examine their analogies and differences to regret with regard to antecedents, appraisals, and phenomenological aspects.Methods: Through the scenario methodology, we manipulated three variables: choice (free/forced), outcome (positive/negative), and time (short/long time after decision-making). Moreover, we investigated whether responsibility, decision justifiability, and some phenomenological aspects (self-attribution, other attribution, and contentment) mediated the effect exerted by choice, singularly or in interaction with outcome and time, on the five emotions. Each study was conducted with 336 participants, aged 18–60.Results: The results of both studies were similar and supported our hypothesis. In particular, regret elicited by forced choice was always high, regardless of the valence of outcome, whereas free choice elicited regret was high only with a negative outcome. Moreover, regret was unaffected by responsibility and decision justifiability, whereas it was affected by the three phenomenological dimensions.Conclusion: Our results suggest that (1) the prevailing theory of regret is too binding, since it posits as necessary some requirements which are not; (2) the antecedents and phenomenology of regret are broader than it is generally believed; (3) decision-making produces a complex emotional constellation, where the different emotions, singularly and/or in combination, constitute the affective responses to the different aspects of decision-making.

Mediating Role of Positive and Negative Experiences in the Relationship Between Self-Competence and Regret among Adults

“…There is a positive relationship between self-competence and psychological well-being and happiness (Doğan et al 2013), positive experience (Veronese et al 2019), selfesteem (Tafarodi & Swann Jr 2001, Doğan 2011) in the literature. There is a positive relationship between regret and self-blame (Buchanan et al 2016), between regret and depression (Kraines et al 2017, Belen 2021, between regret and stress (Belen 2021, Perdomo 2021, and between regret and forced choice (Goldstein-Greenwood et al 2020, Matarazzo et al 2021. There is a positive relationship between negative experience and nevroticism (Watson 2002).…”

“…A review of the literature on common regret shows that regret is associated with depression (Kraines et al 2017), stress (Perdomo 2021), self-expectation (Roese & Summerville 2005), decision avoidance (Lauriola et al 2019), satisfaction with life ( Bozkurt 2017, Aktu 2023, and forced choice (Goldstein-Greenwood et al 2020, Matarazzo et al 2021. Regretful experiences can be stressful because they involve the negative effects and turmoil of the past.…”

Working Too Hard or Not Hard Enough?

“…Our methodology involved retrospection. This is a common procedure in the literature on regret due, in part, to its utility in avoiding ethical problems created by inducing distressing emotional states (e.g., regret) in the laboratory (see Matarazzo et al, 2021). Research on consistency-fit in real-world settings, naturalistic laboratory experiences, and verbal scenarios have found conceptually similar patterns of results relating the consistency-fit model to regret (e.g., C.…”

“…J. Seta et al, 2001; Valshtein & Seta, 2019). Moreover, retrospective manipulations, such as the one used in the present experiments, have mundane realism; people often think back to their feelings and these thoughts are often factors in decision-making processes (e.g., Koch, 2014; Landman, 1993; Matarazzo et al, 2021). People often retrospect on prior experienced or anticipate regret when planning future actions.…”

Cybersecurity Regrets: I’ve had a few.... Je Ne Regrette

“…If these match, the individual is satisfied (cmp13 → satisfaction), and regret does not occur. If not, there are a number of options resulting from the appraisal [67]: (1) anger at oneself (cmp14), (2) anger at circumstances (cmp15), (3) disappointment (cmp13 → disappointment), and (4) regret (cmp13 → S3).…”