Once bitten, twice shy: experienced regret and non-adaptive choice switching.

Francesco Marcatto,Anna Cosulich,Donatella Ferrante

doi:10.7717/peerj.1035

Abstract

When a good decision leads to a bad outcome, the experience of regret can bias subsequent choices: people are less likely to select the regret-producing alternative a second time, even when it is still objectively the best alternative (non-adaptive choice switching). The first study presented herein showed that nearly half of participants experiencing regret rejected a previous alternative they had recognized as the best one, and chose a non-optimal alternative instead. The second study investigated the mechanism underlying this bias, and results supported the hypothesis that this non-adaptive choice switching is caused by inhibition of the previous decision (direct effect of experienced regret), rather than by increased sensitivity to anticipated regret in subsequent choices (indirect effect of experienced regret mediated by anticipated regret).

Highlights

Regret is an emotion with strong cognitive roots, based on a comparison between “what is” and “what might have been,” that is, between the outcome we obtained and a better outcome we would have obtained, had we chosen differently (Van Dijk & Zeelenberg, 2005)
Planned comparison revealed that participants in the regret condition turned over significantly more cards than participants in the disappointment condition (Mann–Whitney Z = 2.30, p = .02) and participants in the control condition (Mann–Whitney Z = 2.53, p = .01) did, with no significant difference, between disappointment and control condition participants (Mann–Whitney Z = 0.41, p = .68)
Research has demonstrated that people try to avoid future experiences of regret by opting for behavior and choices that minimize the possibility of feeling this negative emotion

Summary

Introduction

Regret is an emotion with strong cognitive roots, based on a comparison between “what is” and “what might have been,” that is, between the outcome we obtained and a better outcome we would have obtained, had we chosen differently (Van Dijk & Zeelenberg, 2005). In decision-making research, regret is usually differentiated from disappointment: Both are negative emotions that arise from counterfactual comparison, but while regret results from a comparison between an actual outcome and a better outcome that might have occurred had we made a different choice, disappointment stems from comparing an obtained outcome with a better outcome that might have occurred had we made the same choice. This distinction is relevant because these emotions have distinguishable behavioral consequences for decision making (see, e.g., Van Dijk & Zeelenberg, 2002; Zeelenberg et al, 2000)

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion