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Praise for regret: People value regret above other negative emotions

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Abstract

What do people think about the emotion of regret? Recent demonstrations of the psychological benefits of regret have been framed against an assumption that most people find regret to be aversive, both when experienced but also when recalled later. Two studies explored lay evaluations of regret experiences, revealing them to be largely favorable rather than unfavorable. Study 1 demonstrated that regret, but not other negative emotions, was dominated by positive more than negative evaluations. In both studies 1 and 2, although participants saw a great deal of benefit from their negative emotions, regret stood out as particularly beneficial. Indeed, in study 2, regret was seen to be the most beneficial of 12 negative emotions on all five functions of: making sense of past experiences, facilitating approach behaviors, facilitating avoidance behaviors, gaining insights into the self, and in preserving social harmony. Moreover, in study 2, individuals made self-serving ascriptions of regret, reporting greater regret experiences for themselves than for others. In short, people value their regrets substantially more than they do other negative emotions.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported National Institute of Mental Health grant MH55578, awarded to the first author. Ashley Gonzalez conducted Study 1 as part of a McNair Fellowship summer research program. Comments on this research by Chris Fraley and Justin Kruger are much appreciated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada

    Colleen Saffrey

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, 61820, USA

    Amy Summerville & Neal J. Roese

Authors
  1. Colleen Saffrey
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  2. Amy Summerville
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  3. Neal J. Roese
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Neal J. Roese.

Appendix

Appendix

Scale Items

Emotion appraisals (study 1)

Frequency:

In general, I tend to feel this emotion often

Intensity:

When I feel this emotion, I feel it very deeply

Positive beliefs:

This emotion helps me to know how to act in the future

This emotion keeps me from making the same mistakes again

Overall, this emotion is useful to me

Negative beliefs:

This emotion gets in the way of understanding past events

This emotion is pointless and unproductive

Overall, this emotion is bad for me

Regret Scale (Schwartz et al. 2002) (study 2)

1. Whenever I make a choice, I’m curious about what would have happened if I had chosen differently

2. Whenever I make a choice, I try to get information about how the other alternatives turned out

3. If I make a choice and it turns out well, I still feel like something of a failure it I find out that another choice would have turned out better

4. When I think about how I’m doing in life, I often assess opportunities I have passed up

5. Once I make a decision, I don’t look back

Functions of Negative Emotions (study 2)

Sense-making:

Helps me make sense of past events

Helps me come to terms with undesirable outcomes

Approach Motivation:

Prepares me for action

Helps me know how to act in the future

Avoidance Motivation:

Stops me from making the same mistakes again

Stops me from doing dangerous or harmful things

Insight:

Helps me gain insight to my own attributes

Helps me better understand the impact of my actions

Social Harmony:

Improves my relationships with others

Helps me better understand what others are thinking and feeling

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Saffrey, C., Summerville, A. & Roese, N.J. Praise for regret: People value regret above other negative emotions. Motiv Emot 32, 46–54 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-008-9082-4

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