Abstract
Zeelenberg models anticipated regret — forecasting future self-blame — as an input to behavioral decisions; people avoid options they expect to regret.
Zeelenberg, M. (1999). Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 12(2), 93–106. DOI1099-0771(199906)12:2%3C93::AID-BDM311%3E3.0.CO;2-S)
Start here
Read Projected regret — this paper is the decision-side spine; pair with Gilbert 2007 on forecast bias.
Key findings
- Anticipated regret — Decisions are shaped by expected future self-blame, not only expected utility — pre-outcome emotion is causal input.
- Regret aversion — Options that would trigger “I should have known” get skipped — mechanism behind pre-refusal narratives.
- Feedback expectations — Anticipated social feedback interacts with regret forecasts — shame and regret overlap but differ.
- Projected regret — Separates imagined regret from listable risk — forecast is data, not oracle.
Limits
Lab decision paradigms — not proof that every avoidance in your calendar is regret-driven. Pair with Gilbert on impact bias before treating dread as accurate.
When to open this
Open when Projected regret separates imagined regret from listable risk — before you refuse a move you have not tested. Club doctrine: Prefer the price of fears flips the billing — pay fear-now rather than regret-later.
Try this week: one decision you are postponing — write the regret story you fear, then one observable cost of not trying.