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Usability & InteractionMember ingredient
Anticipated Regret (Regret Aversion)
A person may consider how they would feel if a chosen outcome proved worse than a foregone alternative, but anticipated regret can favour action, inaction, risk or safety depending on feedback and context.
Public evidence overview
One checked source, with its limits.
This preview is not the complete evidence base. Use it as a question to investigate in your own product, not as a prediction of what an individual will do.
Checked source previewAcademic paper
Decision Avoidance and Post-Decision Regret: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Research-assisted source review
- What it supports
- The overall regret reduction was small and non-significant (Hedges’ g=-0.23); status-quo preservation showed a reliable g=-0.45, while other strategies were unclear and prior negative experience moderated results.
- Where it may not transfer
- Few papers represented several strategies, the overall estimate may be subject to publication bias and heterogeneous designs measured post-decision regret at different times. Avoidance mechanisms were often inferred.
See how sources and limitations are checked in our editorial method.
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