Predicting with your head, not your heart: Forecasting errors and the impact of anticipated versus experienced elements of regret on well-being
Document Type
Article
Department or Administrative Unit
Psychology
Publication Date
5-20-2019
Abstract
Research suggests that when predicting our future emotions, affective forecasting errors are frequent (Wilson and Gilbert in Adv Exp Soc Psychol 35:345–411, 2003), influence motivation (Wilson and Gilbert in Curr Dir Psychol Sci 14:131–134, 2005), and drive decisions and behaviors (Dunn and Laham Affective forecasting: a user’s guide to emotional time travel, Psychology Press, London, 2006). Regret can fall prey to these same errors (Gilbert et al., in Psychol Sci 15:346–350, 2004). Recent research characterizes two distinct components of regret: an affective element and cognitive element associated with maladaptive and functional outcomes, respectively (Buchanan et al., in Judgment and Decision Making 11:275–286, 2006). We explored forecasting of these elements across two studies. In Study 1, we investigated how accurately individuals forecast each component of regret, and how this relates to well-being. Participants forecasted experiencing a greater amount of regret (including affective and cognitive components) than they actually experienced. Additionally, forecasted (compared to experienced) components of regret uniquely predicted well-being outcomes, suggesting that predicting more affective regret coincides with lower well-being. In Study 2, forecasting errors in overall regret were eliminated by asking participants to focus on cognitive elements of regret prior to forecasting.
Recommended Citation
Buchanan, T. M., Buchanan, J., & Kadey, K. R. (2019). Predicting with your head, not your heart: Forecasting errors and the impact of anticipated versus experienced elements of regret on well-being. Motivation and Emotion, 43(6), 971–984. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-019-09772-y
Journal
Motivation and Emotion
Rights
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2019
Comments
This article was originally published in Motivation and Emotion. The full-text article from the publisher can be found here.
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