When choosing means losing: Regret enhances repetitive negative thinking in high brooders

Abstract

Past research suggests a relation between rumination (i.e., a form of repetitive negative thinking and a well-established vulnerability factor for depression) and regret (i.e., negative emotions containing self-blame, connected to cognitions about how past personal actions might have achieved better outcomes). However, these relations have not yet been investigated in experimental designs, and it has not been investigated how regret is related to both trait and state components of rumination. Therefore, in the present study we examined the temporal dynamics of repetitive negative thinking (state) in relation to regret, and how this is affected by interindividual differences in tendencies to engage in ruminative brooding (trait). Healthy females (N = 69) performed a sequential risk-taking task which included counterfactual feedback about alternative personal choice outcomes, and in which they experienced goal nonattainment (i.e., no monetary reward). Repetitive negative thoughts (state) prior to the task, and the tendency for ruminative brooding (trait), were both independently associated with reported regret after goal nonattainment, suggesting that both state and trait components of repetitive negative thinking render individuals more prone to experience regret. Furthermore, there was an interaction between regret after goal nonattainment and brooding (trait), in the sense that regret contributed to increases in (state) repetitive negative thinking, only among high brooders. The current results suggest that, among brooding-inclined individuals, the experience of regret may be a specific mechanism in aggravating repetitive negative thinking, which in turn may contribute to the development of psychopathology.