14 DAY TRIAL // In a new investigation, scientists looked at the type of regrets that the average American has, and discovered that they are roughly the same throughout the population. The team also found that most people experience significant amounts regret for things they have done wrong in the past.
The study reveals that family arguments and bad decisions in past romances are the most common regrets Americans share. Many respondents said that what they regretted most was not being able to finish a family argument in due time, before the other person passed away.
According to the research group, the next two spots in the top are occupied by education and career. Numerous Americans regret not having finished higher forms of education, or the career choices they made over the year, that culminated with their current situation.
During the survey, scientists phoned 370 Americans, and asked them to speak about on instance of regret. The participants were asked to detail the circumstances that led to that situation, and also to specify whether their regret stems from action or inaction.
“We found that one’s life circumstances, such as accomplishments or shortcomings, inject considerable fuel into the fires of regret. Although regret is painful, it is an essential component of the human experience,” lead study researcher Neal Roese says.
When it came to romances, what puzzled scientists was that women were a lot more likely to experience regret in connection to a past relationship than men. About 44 percent of the women in the study said they regretted their choices in this area, whereas only 19 percent of men said the same.
On the other hand, some 34 percent of men appeared to have regrets about education, with only 27 percent of women reporting the same thing. For the purpose of this study, education levels were also related to current employment.
“Past research on regrets focused on samples of college students, which made it difficult to glean insights into the wider population,” Roese explains, quoted by PsychCentral.
“This research, however, offers a unique and more thorough look into the psychology of regret to further understand how regret connects to life circumstances and its impact on decision making,” adds the scientist, who is based at the Kellogg School of Management
Interestingly, most of the respondents that had high levels of education expressed regrets about their career choice. Conversely, those with low levels of education regretted not finishing their studies in time.
Details of the new investigation will appear in an upcoming issue of the esteemed journal Social Psychological and Personality Science.