This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Gilovich, T. Articles by Nishina, S. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Regrets Of Action And Inaction Across Cultures

Cornell University

Ranxiao Frances Wang

University of Illinois

Dennis Regan

Cornell University

Sadafumi Nishina

Aoyama Gakuin University

When looking back on their lives, people in the United States tend to regret things they failed to do more than things they did. But is this tendency universal across cultures, or is it the product of the West’s obsession with action and self-actualization? To address this question, the authors conducted five studies in three cultures thought to be less individualistic than the United States—China, Japan, and Russia. Respondents in all three cultures tended to regret—like their counterparts in the United States—inactions more than actions in the long term. Nor did the types of regrets reported by participants in these cultures—overwhelmingly involving the self exclusively rather than the social group—differ from the regrets reported by U.S. samples. These data support the universality of the tendency for inaction to generate greater long-term regret than action.

Key Words:

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				K. Epstude and N. J. Roese The Functional Theory of Counterfactual Thinking Personality and Social Psychology Review, May 1, 2008; 12(2): 168 - 192. [Abstract] [PDF]

				N. J. Roese, G. L. Pennington, J. Coleman, M. Janicki, N. P. Li, and D. T. Kenrick Sex Differences in Regret: All For Love or Some For Lust? Pers Soc Psychol Bull, June 1, 2006; 32(6): 770 - 780. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. Chen, C.-Y. Chiu, N. J. Roese, K.-P. Tam, and I. Y.-M. Lau Culture and Counterfactuals: On the Importance of Life Domains Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, January 1, 2006; 37(1): 75 - 84. [Abstract] [PDF]

				N. J. Roese and A. Summerville What We Regret Most... and Why Pers Soc Psychol Bull, September 1, 2005; 31(9): 1273 - 1285. [Abstract] [PDF]