Anticipated regret and health behavior: a meta-analysis

Abstract

Objective. Regret is a cognitive emotion that is unique to decisions and that people seek to avoid. We sought to understand anticipated regret’s role in motivating health behaviors. Methods. We systematically searched electronic databases for studies of anticipated regret and behavioral intentions or health behavior. We used random effects meta-analysis to synthesize effect sizes from 81 studies (n=45,618). Results. Anticipated regret was associated with both intentions (r+= .50, p<.001) and health behavior (r+= .29, p<.001), such that greater anticipated inaction regret predicted stronger intentions and behavior, while anticipated action regret showed the opposite association. Anticipated regret generally was a stronger predictor of intentions and behavior than other anticipated negative emotions and risk appraisals. Conclusions. Anticipated inaction regret has a stronger and more stable association with health behavior than previously thought. The field should give greater attention to understanding how anticipated regret differs from similar constructs, its role in health behavior theory, and its potential use in health behavior interventions.