Once bitten, twice shy: experienced regret and non-adaptive choice switching
When a good decision leads to a bad outcome, the experience of regret can bias subsequent choices: people are less likely to select the regret-producing alternative a second time, even when it is still objectively the best alternative (non-adaptive choice switching). The first study presented herein...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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PeerJ Inc.
2015-06-01
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| Series: | PeerJ |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/1035.pdf |
| _version_ | 1827606930443468800 |
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| author | Francesco Marcatto Anna Cosulich Donatella Ferrante |
| author_facet | Francesco Marcatto Anna Cosulich Donatella Ferrante |
| author_sort | Francesco Marcatto |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | When a good decision leads to a bad outcome, the experience of regret can bias subsequent choices: people are less likely to select the regret-producing alternative a second time, even when it is still objectively the best alternative (non-adaptive choice switching). The first study presented herein showed that nearly half of participants experiencing regret rejected a previous alternative they had recognized as the best one, and chose a non-optimal alternative instead. The second study investigated the mechanism underlying this bias, and results supported the hypothesis that this non-adaptive choice switching is caused by inhibition of the previous decision (direct effect of experienced regret), rather than by increased sensitivity to anticipated regret in subsequent choices (indirect effect of experienced regret mediated by anticipated regret). |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:46:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d5749a2fc0454318992e025e8dabcbf6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:46:44Z |
| publishDate | 2015-06-01 |
| publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PeerJ |
| spelling | doaj.art-d5749a2fc0454318992e025e8dabcbf62023-12-03T10:34:48ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592015-06-013e103510.7717/peerj.10351035Once bitten, twice shy: experienced regret and non-adaptive choice switchingFrancesco Marcatto0Anna Cosulich1Donatella Ferrante2Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, ItalyDepartment of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, ItalyDepartment of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, ItalyWhen a good decision leads to a bad outcome, the experience of regret can bias subsequent choices: people are less likely to select the regret-producing alternative a second time, even when it is still objectively the best alternative (non-adaptive choice switching). The first study presented herein showed that nearly half of participants experiencing regret rejected a previous alternative they had recognized as the best one, and chose a non-optimal alternative instead. The second study investigated the mechanism underlying this bias, and results supported the hypothesis that this non-adaptive choice switching is caused by inhibition of the previous decision (direct effect of experienced regret), rather than by increased sensitivity to anticipated regret in subsequent choices (indirect effect of experienced regret mediated by anticipated regret).https://peerj.com/articles/1035.pdfRegretDecision-makingChoice switchingDisappointmentDecision bias |
| spellingShingle | Francesco Marcatto Anna Cosulich Donatella Ferrante Once bitten, twice shy: experienced regret and non-adaptive choice switching PeerJ Regret Decision-making Choice switching Disappointment Decision bias |
| title | Once bitten, twice shy: experienced regret and non-adaptive choice switching |
| title_full | Once bitten, twice shy: experienced regret and non-adaptive choice switching |
| title_fullStr | Once bitten, twice shy: experienced regret and non-adaptive choice switching |
| title_full_unstemmed | Once bitten, twice shy: experienced regret and non-adaptive choice switching |
| title_short | Once bitten, twice shy: experienced regret and non-adaptive choice switching |
| title_sort | once bitten twice shy experienced regret and non adaptive choice switching |
| topic | Regret Decision-making Choice switching Disappointment Decision bias |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/1035.pdf |
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