Experimental Research On The Effect Of Construal Level On Regret

Construal Level Theory (CLT) is a social cognitive theory which was used to account for how psychological distance influences individuals' thoughts and choices. CLT assumes that the psychological distance perceived from the objects or events can make people product different construal levels, and then influence judgment and decision making. This study surveyed 302 students from 5 colleges of Soochow University and picked up 275 valid data. In addition, chi-square test, analysis of variance and hierarchical regression analysis were applied for exploring temporal distance, spatial distance, social distance and possibility affecting regret respectively. This study found:(1) Individuals experience more regret under the near temporal distance condition. There is no significant difference between action regret and inaction regret in the near temporal distance, but as the temporal distance increase, inaction regret produces more regret.(2) Compared to the spatially distant condition, individuals experience more regret under the spatially near condition when they produce low construal level.(3) Individuals experience more regret in the personal decision making than they do in the others decision making. Different types of attributions have a significant effect on regret and individuals experience more regret under the situational attribution condition. Responsibility moderated the effect of different ways of judgment on regret and it moderated the strength of the effect.(4) Under the high possibility condition, individuals tend to be low construal level and experience more regret. People tend to express more regret when the end is high desirability-low feasibility under the low possibility, on the contrary, people tend to experience more regret when the end is low desirability-high feasibility under high possibility.