Status Quo Change vs. Maintenance as a Moderator of the Influence of Perceived Opportunity on the Experience of Regret

Abstract

Recent research in regret literature, examining the moderating role of perceived opportunity, has yielded conflicting results.Roese and Summerville (2005) argue that conditions that enhance perceptions of future opportunities should elicit the most intensely felt regrets, whereas Beike, Markman and Karadogan (2009) argue that it is the perception of lost opportunities (i.e., high past but low future) that elicit the most intensely felt regrets.Thus, the main purpose of the current project was to offer a resolution to these conflicting positions.With this goal in mind, three studies were conducted to demonstrate that the effect of perception of future opportunities change depending on the nature of decision type (i.e., changing the status quo vs. maintaining the status quo).Study 1 investigated the interactive effect of decision type and perceived opportunity on regret intensity by adopting a scenario paradigm.Results of Study 1 demonstrated that the amount of regret experienced intensified in situations where future opportunities to take corrective action were no longer available.Due to the possible limitations of a scenario paradigm, Study 2 was conducted by adopting a more involving paradigm in which participants were required to make actual regret-eliciting decisions.Consistent with the predictions, changing the status quo was regretted more than maintaining it under the conditions of low opportunity, whereas maintaining the status Abstract .....

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