Revisiting the Temporal Pattern of Regret in Action Versus Inaction: Replication of Gilovich and Medvec (1994) With Extensions Examining Responsibility

Abstract

The temporal pattern of regret is the phenomenon that people perceive or experience stronger regret over action compared to inaction in the short-term, yet stronger regret over inaction compared to action in the long term. Following mixed and null findings in the literature, we conducted replications and extension of Studies 1, 3, 4, and 5 in the classic Gilovich and Medvec (1994) which first demonstrated this phenomenon, with a single combined data collection in randomized display order with an online sample of Americans on MTurk (N = 988). We found support for the original findings using different designs in Studies 1, 3, and 4, yet with weaker effects. We failed to find support for such a pattern in Study 5. We discuss possible interpretations for these differences: our replication adjustments, the change in the meaning of action and inaction, or change in hypothetical versus real-life personal experiences. Extending the replications, we found support for stronger responsibility for action compared to inaction both in the short-term and the long-term. We conclude overall support for the effects, yet with follow-up work necessary to resolve the inconsistencies in the findings of the Study 5 replication. Pre-registration, materials, data, and code were made available on: https://osf.io/7m3q2/

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