title: Regulatory Mode and Risk-Taking: The Mediating Role of Anticipated Regret.
abstract: We propose that decision maker's regulatory mode affects risk-taking through anticipated regret. In the Study 1 either a locomotion or an assessment orientation were experimentally induced, and in the Studies 2 and 3 these different orientations were assessed as chronic individual differences. To assess risk-taking we used two behavioral measures of risk: BART and hot-CCT. The results show that experimentally induced assessment orientation--compared to locomotion--leads to decreased risk-taking through increased anticipated regret (Study 1). People chronically predisposed to be in the assessment state take less risk through increased anticipated regret (Study 2 and Study 3). Study 2 results also show a marginally non-significant indirect effect of chronic locomotion mode on BART through anticipated regret. Differently, Study 3 shows that people chronically predisposed to be in the locomotion state take greater risk through decreased anticipated regret, when play a dynamic risk task triggering stronger emotional arousal. Through all three studies, the average effect size for the relationship of assessment with anticipated regret was in the moderate-large range, whereas for risk-taking was in the moderate range. The average effect size for the relationship of locomotion with anticipated regret was in the moderate range, whereas for risk-taking was in the small-moderate range. These results increase our understanding of human behavior under conditions of risk obtaining novel insights into regulatory mode theory and decision science.
authors.affiliation: Department of Education, Experimental Psychology Laboratory, Roma Tre University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Panno
authors.affiliation: Department of Social & Developmental Psychology, University of Rome "Sapienza", Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lauriola
authors.affiliation: Department of Social & Developmental Psychology, University of Rome "Sapienza", Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pierro
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003657:Decision Making; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008124:Locomotion; D008297:Male; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012309:Risk-Taking