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Lack of relationships, education top list of common American regrets

Date:
June 8, 2011
Source:
SAGE Publications
Summary:
Regrets -- we've all had a few. Although too many regrets can interfere with life and mental health, a healthy amount of regret can motivate us to improve our lives, say researchers.
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Regrets -- we've all had a few. Although too many regrets can interfere with life and mental health, a healthy amount of regret can motivate us to improve our lives, say researchers Mike Morrison of the University of Illinois and Neal Roese of Northwestern University in the current issue of Social Psychological and Personality Science (published by SAGE).

The researchers telephoned a representative sample of nearly 400 Americans to ask them about what they regret. The most frequent regrets of Americans are about love, education, and work. Romantic regrets -- America's most common -- focused on lost chances for potential romances, and relationships that did not live up to their potential.

The other common regrets for Americans involved family, education, career, finances, and parenting. Women were more likely to have regrets about relationships (romance, family), and men were more likely to have regrets about work (career and education). It was the lack of romantic relationships and the lack of higher education that were regretted most.

At first, people tend to regret the things they've done more than the opportunities they didn't take. But with time, people come to regret more keenly the chances they let go past. Over their lives, Americans had more regret about the times they've lacked opportunities than about the choices they've made.

"We tend to regret matters that are most important to us," said Morrison, "people crave strong, stable social relationships and are unhappy when they lack them." Regret can be painful, but it can also be useful. "Some people say they try to live life without regret and, I think that's being unfair to the human condition," said Roese, "if we try to squeeze regrets away, we're sacrificing a bit of our humanity."


Story Source:

Materials provided by SAGE Publications. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. M. Morrison, N. J. Roese. Regrets of the Typical American: Findings From a Nationally Representative Sample. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2011; DOI: 10.1177/1948550611401756

Cite This Page:

SAGE Publications. "Lack of relationships, education top list of common American regrets." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 8 June 2011. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110608141531.htm>.
SAGE Publications. (2011, June 8). Lack of relationships, education top list of common American regrets. ScienceDaily. Retrieved December 14, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110608141531.htm
SAGE Publications. "Lack of relationships, education top list of common American regrets." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110608141531.htm (accessed December 14, 2024).

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