THE EXPERIENCE OF REGRET - WHAT, WHEN, AND WHY

This article reviews evidence indicating that there is a temporal patt ern to the experience of regret. Actions, or errors of commission, gen erate more regret in the short term; but inactions, or errors of omiss ion, produce more regret in the long run. The authors contend that thi s 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) differ entially affect the cognitive availability of these two types of regre ts. Both the functional and cultural origins of how people think about regret are discussed.