Nature & Development of Anticipated Regret as a Protective Factor in Adolescent Risk Taking
Matthew Dunham
Adolescent Risk Taking (Psych 4900)
Weber State University
INTRODUCTION
Regret Theory– Negative feeling associated with negative outcome
and specifically how they could have been avoided if different decision had been made
Anticipated Regret– Lottery ticket exchange
Review – Correlation Approach– Experimental Approach– Developmental Approach
Caffray & Schneider (2000)
Affective Motivators in risk-taking behaviors– Three classes of affective states
Promote risky behaviors by enhancing pleasant affective states Promote behaviors by reducing or avoiding negative affective states Deter risky behaviors by avoiding anticipated regret
– METHODS High Risk Group vs. Low Risk Group
– RESULT Low risk takers reported influence of anticipated regret as deterrent
whereas high experience desired to avoid unpleasant emotions in addition to positive affective states which motivated them to engage in risky behaviors
Anticipated regret correlated with deterrence
Richard et al. (1996)
Does anticipated regret decrease risky behavior?– Study tested whether anticipated regret actually caused decrease
in risky behavior– METHODS
Students randomly assigned to think about (control group) and after (anticipated regret induction) unprotected sex
Students reported feelings immediately after thought experiment & their respective behavior five months later
– RESULTS Subjects in anticipated regret induction condition felt worse and
subsequently used more protective measures (condoms) as compared to the control group.
Anticipated regret caused deterrence.
Amsel et al. (2003)
Is anticipated regret a skill that is acquired or typically not used?
METHODS– Preteens vs. college students scaffold as they think through
decisions basing them on desirable and potentially regretful (hang out w/. friends as opposed to study) compared to less desirable behavior but less regretful (studying and maybe being teased by friends for not hanging out)
RESULTS – At each stage, preteens performed worse in their ability to make
judgments (anticipated feelings about outcomes, etc).– With extensive scaffolding, preteens were able to make adult-like
anticipated regret based decisions.
CONCLUSION
SUMMARY– Anticipated Regret is a causal influence on risk
deterrence. Adolescents appear to be “adult” in way they think about risk
(not impulsive; future long-term perspective) which adolescents, in general, are particularly bad at doing.
FUTURE DIRECTIONS– Educational Implications
How to develop resources for adolescents to anticipate regrets?
– Role of Context Assess when adolescents will or will not anticipate regret
REFERENCES
Caffray, C., & Schneider, S. (2000)– Why do they do it? Affective motivators in adolescents’ decisions
to participate in risk behaviors. Cognition and Emotion, 14, 543-576
Richard, R., Van der Pligt, J., & De Vries, N. (1996)– Anticipated Regret and Time Perspective: Changing Sexual Risk-
taking Behavior. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 9, 185-199
Amsel, E., Bowden, T., Cottrell, J., & Sullivan, J. (2003)– Anticipating and Avoiding Regret as a Model of Adolescent
Decision-Making. In J. Jacobs & P. Klaczynski, (Eds.) The development of judgment and decision-making in children and adolescence (pp. 119-154). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Top Related