Introduction
Regret is a phenomenon involving the comparison between the present and alternative state, linked to the realization that the outcome of a situation could have been different if one had made a different decision. This article provides an overview of scientific explanations of regret and attempts to answer the question why people make decisions they later regret.
Theoretical explanations of regret
The Decision Justification Theory suggests that regret is established from two primary components: the comparison of the outcome and self-blame which is linked to whether the decision is justified or not[i]. Regret is often expressed through disappointment, meaning that the outcome is either worse than expected or less favorable than it could have been. Interestingly, regret may not only be based on the result of the decision but also on personal control, indicating that regret also occurs when one is aware that under different circumstances, an outcome could have been more favorable[ii]. This would mean that with free choice, regret arises by self-blame and the personal responsibility which lead to the outcome. On the contrary, by forced choice regret is independent of the outcome but rather emerges from the necessity of making a choice and knowing that one had to give up the intentional option[iii]. This is demonstrated by an experiment conducted by Matarazzo et al. in which participants were asked to put themselves into the protagonist’s position who, in the free choice group, decides whether to work abroad or stay, or in the forced choice group, is obligated due to physical limitations. In both cases, the protagonist decides to stay at the same work location. The outcome was either that the protagonist was content due to high salary and position advancement or that they were not because their position was cut and the other colleague was satisfied with working abroad. The participants were asked to rate potential thoughts and feelings of the protagonist on a scale from 1-9, with 1 being lowest and 9 highest, and the likelihood whether the protagonist would agree with their assessment. The experiment found that under conditions of free choice, regret was more intense when faced with a negative outcome and satisfaction higher when the chosen option was better but under conditions of forced choice, regret and the associated disappointment and anger emerged regardless of whether the outcome was positive or negative[iv]. This challenges the Decision Justification Theory and suggests that regret does not ultimately consist of self-blame as a core component because with forced choice, regret persists but does not depend on the outcome but rather the lack of personal control and force as no other option is considerable.
Hot-cold empathy gaps, defined as emotional barriers between two states which are challenging for humans to consider simultaneously, significantly affect decision making. Hot to cold empathy gaps imply that people experiencing emotionally high states, meaning clear expressions of, for instance, anger, exhaustion or hunger, are more likely to take their current state as a standard and overlook futural preferences and behavioral changes, respectively. In contrast, people experiencing cold to hot empathy gaps tend to underestimate their behavior and feelings in future hot states and hence fail to adapt measures[v]. Therefore, the decisions one makes in hot states can lead to irrational decisions and regret in cold states as the circumstances are different than in the present and vice versa.
Contextual influences on regret
The Decision Theory indicates that people hold short-term satisfaction over long-term satisfaction which explains why people are often influenced by certain circumstances such as emotions. Human perception is influenced by situational context and can be impulsive which increases risk of making regrettable decisions[vi]. Furthermore, decision fatigue implies that people make dozens of decisions every day which can be exhausting for the brain. During experiences of decision fatigue, the brain is more likely to use mental shortcuts which involve bias and other unconscious mechanisms which can result in less favorable outcomes[vii].
The opportunity principle raises the claim that depending on likelihood to improve situation, regret either increases or decreases[viii]. This is illustrated by an opportunity study in which participants were asked to select life domains with high or low perceived opportunities, give an example for each and rate opportunity and intensity of regret on a scale from 1-9, with 1 being the lowest and 9 the highest. Findings showed that people experience more intense regret for situations with high opportunities as the likelihood of a more favorable outcome is higher if they had made a different decision[ix]. However, this would indicate that regret is linked with self-blame as the awareness of the missed opportunity results in guilt and would therefore only be applicable to free choice.
Moreover, omissions (inactions) often lead to more intense regret than commissions (actions). This is because as opposed to commissions in which there is only one alternative, which is not to act, omissions are unclear as one could always have done more and hence change the outcome. However, interesting is that people perceive more intense regret due to commissions in the short term but that in the long-term perspective, regret increases for missed opportunities[x]. This highlights the difference in human perception over time and complicates the term “later” (see title) because “later” can be seen as an open-ended interpretation.
The adaptive function of regret
But does regret also have its usage aside from dwelling on the past? A study investigating corrective behavior after counterfactual thinking monitored university students’ counterfactual thoughts, which are imaginations of alternatives to past actions, regarding exam results and compared their subsequent grades. The study found that participants who engaged in more counterfactual thinking had a greater perceived control over circumstances in the future, were more likely to take action to improve and hence performed better on the next exam[xi]. This is due to the alarm system, which is activated when people recognize a gap between the wished outcome and the actual situation, whose signal can, in turn, improve future behavior[xii]. Nevertheless, it must be noted that regret is a form of counterfactual thinking, specifically upward counterfactual thinking, meaning the imagination of how a situation could have been better.
Conclusion
In summary, decision-making is a process that is influenced by emotional states including hot-cold empathy gaps, short-long term satisfaction and decision fatigue which can increase the risk of making decisions one will later regret. In addition, regret has shown to be more likely to occur under certain circumstances such as forced choice, opportunity to change and omissions. However, regret can also be seen as a tool for improvement since it encourages futural corrective behavior.
Endnotes
[i] Connolly and Zeelenberg, 2002
[ii] Bell, 1985, Loomes and Sugden, 1986, as cited in Matarazzo et al., 2021
[iii] Matarazzo et al., 2021
[iv] Matarazzo et al., 2021
[v] Loewenstein, 2005
[vi] Loewenstein, 1996, as cited in Loewenstein, 2005
[vii] Pocheptsova et al., 2009, as cited in Pignatiello et al., 2021
[viii] Roese, 2005
[ix] Roese, 2005
[x] Gilovich, Medvec and Chen, 1995, as cited in Connolly, Zeelenberg, 2002
[xi] Nasco and Marsh, 1999
[xii] Lieberman, Gaunt and Trope, 2002, as cited in Epstude, Roese, 2008
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