Abstract
Regret is a common emotion that has important links with decision-making in adults. Recent research suggests that the ability to experience regret emerges relatively late in development. By around 6 years, most children will experience regret but the likelihood of experiencing this emotion increases across childhood and into adolescence. The developmental emergence of regret seems to affect children’s decision-making: children who experience regret about a choice are more likely to make a better choice next time round and regret also seems to help children learn to delay gratification and behave more prosocially.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 346-350 |
Journal | Current Directions in Psychological Science |
Volume | 29 |
Issue number | 4 |
Early online date | 14 Jul 2020 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 14 Jul 2020 |
Keywords
- decision making
- development
- regret