title: Generality and cultural variation in the experience of regret.
abstract: Regret is the prototypical decision-related emotion. Most theory and research on regret comes from the United States and Europe, but recent research has suggested potential cross-cultural differences in regret. We examined generality and cultural variation in the experience of regret. A cross-cultural study compared experiences of regret with those of disappointment and guilt as reported by participants from the United States (n = 143), the Netherlands (n = 147), Israel (n = 148), and Taiwan (n = 115). We found strong evidence for generality of the distinct emotion components of regret, compared with those of disappointment and guilt. We also found cultural variation in the frequency and intensity of regret in intrapersonal situations (regrets about outcomes affecting the self) and interpersonal regrets (regrets about outcomes affecting others). Whereas in the U.S. sample, regret was experienced more intensely in intrapersonal than interpersonal situations, both emotions were experienced more intensely in interpersonal situations in the Taiwanese sample.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Psychology, Tilburg University.
authors.forename: Seger M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Breugelmans
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Psychology, Tilburg University.
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zeelenberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Cornell University.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gilovich
authors.affiliation: Department of Marketing National Chung Hsing University.
authors.forename: Wen-Hsien
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Marketing Department, Tel-Aviv University.
authors.forename: Yaniv
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shani
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006167:Guilt; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007557:Israel; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands; D013624:Taiwan; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult