THE ROLE OF REGRET IN RATIONAL DECISION MAKING

Rational decision making can be defined as a tendency to make a normative decision, while incorporating post-choice predicted emotions into the decision making process. The study investigates the role of anticipated and experienced regret in rational decision making as well as the role of 'passing time' in regret reduction. It was found that rational decision makers anticipate regret during the decision making process, but they are not good at correctly predicting regret intensity, in comparison with non-rational decision makers. According to the obtained results it can be stated that regret emerges from the single act of decision making and not from the type of inference which precedes the choice. 'Passing time' however decreases the intensity of regret.