The experience of regret: What, when, and why.
Abstract
This article reviews evidence indicating that there is a temporal pattern to the experience of regret. Actions, or errors of commission, generate more regret in the short term; but inactions, or errors of omission, produce more regret in the long run. The authors contend that this temporal pattern is multiply determined, and present a framework to organize the divergent causal mechanisms that are responsible for it. In particular, this article documents the importance of psychological processes that (a) decrease the pain of regrettable action over time, (b) bolster the pain of regrettable inaction over time, and (c) differentially affect the cognitive availability of these two types of regrets. Both the functional and cultural origins of how people think about regret are discussed.
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Individuals denied a choice in an activity experience less hedonic return relative to individuals allowed to exercise a choice.
“Support for this idea comes from the large literature documenting how individuals denied a choice in an activity experience less hedonic return relative to individuals allowed to exercise a choice [58–60].”
From Five studies evaluating the impact on mental health and mood of recalling, reading, and discussing fiction (2022) · cites this paper as [59]
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“Finally, there are those elements that differentially affect the cognitive availability ( Tversky & Kahneman, 1973 ) of a person's regrettable commissions and omissions.”
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- Authors
- Gilovich, T., & Medvec, V. H.
- Affiliations
- Cornell University (US)
- ORCID
- Gilovich, Thomas
- Venue
- Psychological Review
- Published
- 1995
- Volume
- 102
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 379-395
- ISSN
- 0033-295X (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1471
- OpenAlex
- W2078896504
- Cited by
- 1,098
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 37 · 2025: 53 · 2024: 44 · 2023: 36 · 2022: 31 · 2021: 38 · 2020: 36 · 2019: 44 · 2018: 38 · 2017: 43 · 2016: 42 · 2015: 40 · 2014: 34 · 2013: 34 · 2012: 41
- FWCI
- 10.01
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychological Review (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (5r01mh045531-03)
- National Institute of Mental Health (MH 45531)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotions and Moral Behavior
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Forgiveness and Related Behaviors
- Keywords
- regret, commission errors, omission errors, cognitive availability
- MeSH terms
- Affect, Aspirations, Psychological, Attention, Choice Behavior, Decision Making, Humans, Internal-External Control, Motivation, Mental Recall, Social Values
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