Date of Award

5-1994

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Lisa L. Scherer

Second Advisor

Joseph Brown

Third Advisor

Kim Sosin

Abstract

To date, there is little research on the phenomena of decisional regret. Most of the literature contains speculation about the antecedents, moderators, processes and consequences of regret rather than offering empirical evidence. This study looked at temporary affective states and the moderating effect of the valence of additional information in terms of the amount of post-decisional regret experienced, confidence levels, ratings of decision alternatives and subsequent choice. A 2 X 2 factorial design was used to examine the influence of affective state (positive vs neutral) and the valence of additional information (neutral vs negative) on regret and the evaluation of decision alternatives. Results demonstrate a significant interaction of affect and additional information on the second decision task rating of the initially chosen alternative. Valence of additional information also had significant effects on the alternative choice and most of the alternative ratings. Affect, on the other hand, did not significantly affect any of the dependent variables. Future research can build on this and explore better measurement methods to more clearly ascertain the effects of the valence of additional information on regret and decision evaluation.

Comments

A Thesis Presented to the Department of Psychology and the Faculty of the Graduate College University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts University of Nebraska at Omaha.

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