The decisions we make in our love relationships are the main cause of regret (18.1%), followed by those related to the family (15.9%), education (13.1%), professional career (12, 2%) and finance (9.9%). The choices we least regret are those that have to do with spirituality (2.3%), free time (1.5%) and with ourselves (1%). This is the conclusion reached by Neal Roese, from Northwestern University (USA), after analyzing the causes of repentance of 370 American adults.
Their results, which are published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science , reveal that 44% of women regret their love decisions, compared to only 19% of men. Women also regret more about their family decisions. They, however, tend to regret the choices related to working life more (34% compared to 27% for women). The results also suggest that we regret more of not having acted in a past situation than of decisions that involved action.
Roese says that while regret is painful , it is an essential component of the human experience .
