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Anticipated regret and health behavior: A meta-analysis.
Noel T Brewer1, Jessica T DeFrank2, Melissa B Gilkey3
1Department of Health Behavior.
Summary
Anticipating inaction regret strongly motivates health behavior and intentions. Understanding this and action regret is key for health behavior interventions.
Area of Science:
- Health Behavior Science
- Psychology
- Risk Perception
Background:
- Risk beliefs are fundamental to health behavior theories.
- Anticipated regret is an emerging risk construct requiring further investigation.
- Its precise role in motivating health behaviors remains incompletely understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically investigate the role of anticipated regret in motivating health behaviors.
- To synthesize existing research on anticipated regret and its association with behavioral intentions and health actions.
Main Methods:
- A systematic literature search was conducted across electronic databases.
- Random effects meta-analysis was employed to synthesize findings.
- Data from 81 studies encompassing 45,618 participants were analyzed.
Main Results:
- Anticipated regret showed significant associations with both behavioral intentions (r+ = .50) and health behavior (r+ = .29).
- Inaction regret (regret from not acting) positively predicted intentions and behavior.
- Action regret (regret from acting) negatively predicted intentions and behavior, particularly for less severe or distal risks.
Conclusions:
- Anticipated inaction regret demonstrates a robust and stable link to health behavior.
- Further research should explore distinctions between anticipated regret and similar constructs.
- The findings support the potential utility of anticipated regret in designing health behavior interventions.
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