Regret is the emotion of wishing one had made a different decision in the past, as the consequences of the decision one did make was unfavorable.
Regret is related to a perceived opportunity.
Regrets intensity varies over time after the decision, as related to action versus inaction, and in regard to self-control at a particular age.
Self–recrimination comes with regret to spur corrective action and adaptation.
Regret is a universal experience that can often feel overwhelming.
Regret emerges from our choices, actions, or missed opportunities, usually accompanying feelings of disappointment or sadness.
Regret can weigh people down, but also offers us a unique opportunity for reflection and personal growth.
Regret typically stems from two main sources: action and inaction.
Regrets of action arise when we reflect on decisions we’ve made—perhaps words spoken in anger or choices that led to unfavorable outcomes.
Regrets of inaction often involve missed opportunities, such as not pursuing a dream or failing to express our feelings to someone special.
Reflecting on our regrets can lead to valuable insights:This process of reflection fosters resilience and self-awareness.
As everyone makes mistakes; it’s part of the learning process, allowing ourselves to forgive those missteps can help free us from the burden of regret and enable us to move forward with a renewed purpose.
The acknowledgement of our feelings of regret, can channel that energy into positive change.
Going forward, one can make more informed and intentional choices.
While regret can be painful, it need not be a permanent fixture in one’s life.
Every regret can be a stepping stone to wisdom and growth.
In Western societies the highest regrets adults have is regarding choices of their education.
Regret has been defined as a negative emotion, and an aversive emotional state elicited by a discrepancy in the outcome of chosen vs. unchosen actions.
Regret differs from remorse in that people can regret things beyond their control, but remorse indicates a sense of responsibility for the situation: a person can feel regret that people die during natural disasters, but cannot feel remorse for that situation.
People who intentionally harm someone should feel remorse for those actions.
Agent regret refers the idea that a person could be involved in a situation, and regret their involvement even if those actions were innocent, unintentional, or involuntary.
Regret is distinct from disappointment, although both are negative emotional experiences relating to a loss outcome, and both have similar neuronal correlates.
Regret differs from disappointment in regard to feedback about the outcome, comparing the difference between outcomes for the chosen vs. unchosen action.
In regret, full feedback occurs and with disappointment partial feedback.
Anticipated regret, or how much regret one thinks one will feel in the future, appears to be overestimated for actions and choices.
This due in part, due to a tendency to underestimate the extent to which people attribute bad outcomes to external factors rather than to themselves.
Existential regret is defined as profound desire to go back and change a past experience in which one has failed to choose consciously or has made a choice that did not follow one’s beliefs, values, or growth needs.
Process regret may occur, if a person does not consider information about all available choices before making a decision.
People will go out of their way to avoid regret which is called regret aversion.
Loss aversion is a part of regret and regret aversion due to the way people put in the effort to not lose something: it is believed that losing something has a stronger emotional pull than gaining something does.
Overall adults regret choices regarding their education the most.
Subsequent rankings include: decisions about career, romance, and parenting.
Cultures may rank regrets differently depending on the perceived opportunity in a particular society.
Decision regret regarding health care is associated with higher decisional conflict, lower satisfaction with the decision, adverse outcomes in physical health, and greater anxiety levels.
Deathbed regrets are likely to express ideal-related regrets:failing to follow their dreams and live up to their full potential.
Regrets of an action are more intense in the short term, whereas regrets of inaction are more intense over the long term.
High intensity of regret and intrusive thoughts in older adults is related to self-control, and low internal control was expected to be self-protective and help to decrease regret.
People’s biggest regrets occur where they perceive the greatest and most important opportunity for corrective action.
When no opportunity exists to improve conditions, thoughts mitigate the cognitive dissonance caused by regret by rationalization.
Regret pushes people toward revised decision making and corrective action that may bring improvement in life circumstances.
Regret is an accurate predictor of who switches providers: As more intense regret is experienced, the likelihood of initiating change is increased.
Regret spurs future action to make sure other opportunities are taken so that regret will not be experienced again: People learn from their mistakes.
The more opportunities of corrective action available, the larger the regret is felt and the more likely corrective action is achieved.
With a lost opportunity regret should intensify, not diminish.
People who habitually consider future consequences, and how they may avoid future negative outcomes, experience less, rather than more, intense regret after a negative outcome: explains why education is the most regretted aspect in life.
Education becomes a more limited opportunity as time passes.
Aspects such as making friends, becoming more spiritual, and community involvement tend to be less regrettable because these are also aspects in life that do not become limited opportunities.
As the opportunity to remedy a situation passes, feelings of hopelessness may increase.
The lost opportunity principle can be seen as a lack of closure.
Low closure makes past occurrences feel unresolved, and is associated with reductions in self-esteem and persistent negative affect over time, with the realization and regret of lost opportunity.
High closure is associated with acceptance of lost opportunity.
Regret does not serve as a corrective motive, Instead, regret serves as a more general reminder to seize the day.
Regret lingers where opportunity existed.
Self-blame of remorse being a core element to ultimately spur corrective action in decision-making.
fMRI links the orbitofrontal cortex to the processing of regret.
The completeness of feedback about the outcomes after making a decision determines whether persons experienced regret vs. disappointment demonstrated in a magnetoencephalography study.
People with antisocial personality disorder are found to experience regret, but do not use the regret to guide their choice in behavior: There is no lack of regret but a problem to think through a range of potential actions and estimating the outcome values.
Regret is an emotional response that occurs when a person reflects on past decisions or actions and wishes they had chosen differently.
It is often associated with feelings of disappointment, sadness, or remorse about a missed opportunity or a decision that led to an undesirable outcome.
Regret can serve as a learning experience, motivating individuals to make better choices in the future, or it can lead to persistent negative emotions if not managed properly.