REGRET AND RESPONSIBILITY IN THE EVALUATION OF DECISION OUTCOMES

The negative affect associated with bad decision outcomes is often tho ught to involve feelings of remorse or self-blame. For example, studie s showing greater regret associated with active than with passive choi ce are interpreted as the active chooser piling self-recrimination on top the disappointment of a poor outcome. Corresponding rejoicing is p ostulated for active choice that leads to good outcomes. The five expe riments reported here challenge such a view. In each, hypothetical ind ividuals experienced identical gains or losses, some as a result of th eir own choice, others as a result of an external, arbitrary process. Though evaluations of final outcomes were heavily influenced by the pa ths by which the outcomes were reached, and by the comparison levels t hat were evoked, in no case was decision agency a significant influenc e. In these experiments, then, the ''active chooser'' effect appears m ore a matter of change than of choice, of the route taken rather than whether one is the driver or the passenger. Further research will be n eeded to establish the circumstances under which different salient com parisons are evoked. (C) 1997 Academic Press.