Peer-reviewed
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (APA)
What We Regret Most ... and Why
Cited in 14 Likelier entries (0 risks, 14 decisions).
Used in 16 entries
For each citing entry, the verbatim excerpt and Likelier's calculation notes (how the source's number was converted to the lifetime-probability framing) are shown below. Click through to read the full claim ledger.
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Education (32.2%), career (22.3%), and romance (14.8%) top lifetime regret domains; the common thread is missed opportunity for self-actualization in high-importance life areas.
“"People's biggest regrets are a reflection of where in life they see their largest opportunities; that is, where they see tangible prospects for change, growth, and renewal."”
Calculation notes
Roese and Summerville (2005) meta-analysis of 11 regret-ranking datasets. The finding that inaction regrets dominate in high- importance life domains (education, career, self-actualization) is directly applicable to civic silence. Choosing not to protest during a politically significant moment involves exactly the qualities Roese and Summerville identify as regret-generative: a window of opportunity that closes, stakes that matter to one's values and identity, and a choice that cannot easily be undone. The career and self-actualization domains map closely onto civic identity and moral self-concept, domains in which people report the most durable regrets.
Source date: 2005-09-01 · Accessed: 2026-05-09
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Meta-analysis of 11 regret-ranking datasets: greatest regret concentrates in education, career, romance, parenting, self, and leisure — domains with high perceived opportunity; inaction regrets persist longer than action regrets
“"Regrets of inaction ('Should have asked her out,' 'Should have become a dentist') are more psychologically 'open,' more imaginatively boundless."”
Calculation notes
Roese & Summerville (2005), PSPB 31(9), 1273-1285. Foundational meta-analytic finding that long-term retrospective regret is dominated by inactions, and that domains generating the most regret are those with high perceived opportunity. Civic engagement maps onto this self-actualization / social-meaning category. Used as the theoretical scaffolding for assigning a low long-term action-regret rate to people who chose to engage in local governance, since action regrets in opportunity-rich domains fade more quickly than inaction regrets.
Source date: 2005-09-01 · Accessed: 2026-05-30
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Greatest regret in long-term retrospection concentrates in domains of high perceived opportunity — education, career, self-actualization; inaction regrets dominate
“"People's biggest regrets are a reflection of where in life they see their largest opportunities; that is, where they see tangible prospects for change, growth, and renewal."”
Calculation notes
Roese & Summerville (2005) meta-analysis. The "self" domain ranked fifth of six in their analysis and includes self-concept, civic identity, and community contribution. Local civic participation maps onto this domain: the foregone opportunity to influence community outcomes (school curriculum, zoning, local budget) is reconstructable years later and likely durable. Used as theoretical anchor for the inaction-dominant pattern, alongside the workplace-voice proxy.
Source date: 2005-09-01 · Accessed: 2026-05-30
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Education (32.2%) and career (22.3%) are the top two regret domains across meta-analysis of 11 datasets — the exact domains where parental advice most commonly shapes decisions
“"People's biggest regrets are a reflection of where in life they see their largest opportunities for change. The most regretted domain is education, followed by career, romance, and parenting."”
Calculation notes
Roese & Summerville (2005) meta-analysis of 11 life-regret ranking studies plus two lab studies. Education and career together account for 54.5% of the most commonly reported life regrets. These are also the two domains where parental expectations most frequently diverge from personal aspirations (career choice, college major, professional path). This source contextualizes why the parental-advice pair lands in high-regret territory rather than providing rates for either side.
Source date: 2005-01-01 · Accessed: 2026-05-13
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Leisure ranks as the sixth of six top regret domains in long-term retrospection (smaller share of biggest regrets than education, career, romance, parenting, or self)
“"Leisure activities are among the domains where regret is felt, but they generate smaller and less durable regret than education, career, romance, parenting, or the self."”
Calculation notes
Roese & Summerville (2005), PSPB 31(9), 1273-1285. Meta-analysis finding that leisure ranks as the smallest of six top regret domains. Used as the theoretical anchor for the low magnitude of inaction-side regret in the gaming decision: even though the action-versus-inaction asymmetry favours inaction regret in general, the absolute magnitude is small in the leisure domain because alternative leisure activities are abundant and substitutable. Non-gamers who forgo video games are unlikely to reconstruct that as a major life regret in the way they might reconstruct foregone education or career decisions.
Source date: 2005-09-01 · Accessed: 2026-05-30
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Across a meta-analysis of regret-ranking studies, regrets of inaction persist longer than regrets of action
“"the top six biggest regrets in life center on (in descending order) education, career, romance, parenting, the self, and leisure ... regrets of inaction persist longer than regrets of action."”
Calculation notes
Roese & Summerville (2005) meta-analysis of 11 regret-ranking studies of American adults. Health is NOT a top-six regret domain in this paper (education 32.2%, career 22.3%, romance 14.8%, parenting 10.2%, self 5.5%, leisure 2.5%; health ranks lower). The relevant finding for this entry is the general action/inaction asymmetry: regrets of inaction persist longer than regrets of action because they remain "psychologically open." This supports the directional inaction-dominates pattern (regretting not having exercised outlasts regretting having exercised) but does not report any exercise-specific percentage.
Source date: 2005-09-01 · Accessed: 2026-04-26
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In a single-session study where 34 undergraduates each recorded one especially vivid regret (Study 2a), 'friends' was the second-most-frequent life domain named (20.3% of regrets, behind romance at 26.7% and ahead of education at 16.7%); the paper reports that regrets of inaction persist longer than regrets of action because they reflect greater perceived opportunity
“"The ranking of regrets by frequency of life domain was (1) romance, (2) friends, (3) education, (4) leisure, (5) self, (6) career, (7) family, (8) health, (9) spirituality, (10) community, (11) finance, and (12) parenting. Regrets of inaction ('Should have asked her out,' 'Should have become a dentist') are more psychologically 'open,' more imaginatively boundless, meaning that there is always more one could have done... regrets of inaction persist longer than regrets of action in part because they reflect greater perceived opportunity."”
Calculation notes
Roese & Summerville (2005), PSPB 31(9), 1273-1285. In Study 2a, 34 undergraduates each recorded one especially vivid regret in a single session (not a diary study); the friends domain was the second-most-frequently named at 20.3% (romance 26.7%, education 16.7%, per Table 3). Note that Study 1's meta-analysis of prior surveys ranks the domains differently (education 32.2%, career 22.3%, romance 14.8%, friends 1.45%); the 20.3% used here is the Study 2a college-sample figure, not the Study 1 meta-analytic figure. The paper does not split friend-domain regrets into "reaching out" vs "not reaching out" sub-categories. Used here as corroborating evidence that friends is a high-frequency, inaction-dominated regret domain (the paper reports inaction regrets persist longer than action regrets), not as a direct rate for the action side.
Source date: 2005-09-01 · Accessed: 2026-05-13
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Education (32.2%), career (22.3%), and romance (14.8%) top lifetime regret domains; leisure accounts for 2.5%
“"People's biggest regrets are a reflection of where in life they see their largest opportunities; that is, where they see tangible prospects for change, growth, and renewal."”
Calculation notes
Roese and Summerville (2005) meta-analyzed 11 regret-ranking datasets and found that education, career, and romance dominate lifetime regrets. The leisure domain (which would include travel and relocation) accounts for only 2.5% of all regrets mentioned. This contextualizes the inaction-side figure: even if 34% of non-movers believe their career suffered, relocation is rarely a top-of-mind lifetime regret compared to education and romance.
Source date: 2005-09-01 · Accessed: 2026-04-27
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Romance is among the top three lifetime regret domains (14.8%); regrets of inaction persist longer than regrets of action because they reflect greater perceived opportunity within affected life domains
“"Regrets of inaction persist longer than regrets of action in part because they reflect greater perceived opportunity. Education (32.2%), career (22.3%), and romance (14.8%) top lifetime regret domains; the common thread is missed opportunity for self-actualization."”
Calculation notes
Roese & Summerville (2005), PSPB 31(9), 1273-1285. Foundational meta-analysis. The romance domain consistently ranks in the top three regret categories across 11 datasets, and the inaction-dominant pattern (84% of biggest-regrets are inactions per Gilovich & Medvec 1994) applies particularly to romance because the opportunity window closes with partner commitment. Used as theoretical anchor: a long-term monogamous adult who never explored CNM despite curiosity falls squarely in the missed-opportunity-in-romance-domain pattern, which Roese and Summerville identify as the most regret-generative category. Supports the directional finding that inaction-side regret modestly exceeds action-side regret in this dilemma.
Source date: 2005-09-01 · Accessed: 2026-05-30
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Regrets of inaction persist longer than regrets of action; a meta-analysis of 11 regret-ranking studies found the six biggest life regrets center (in descending order) on education, career, romance, parenting, the self, and leisure
“"A meta-analysis of 11 regret ranking studies revealed that the top six biggest regrets in life center on (in descending order) education, career, romance, parenting, the self, and leisure." ... "Regrets of inaction ('Should have asked her out,' 'Should have become a dentist') are more psychologically 'open,' more imaginatively boundless," and regrets of inaction persist longer than regrets of action.”
Calculation notes
Roese and Summerville (2005, PMC2394712), "What We Regret Most ... and Why," is a meta-analysis of 11 regret-ranking studies. The paper's finding cited here is qualitative: regrets of inaction persist longer than regrets of action, and the biggest life-regret domains are education and career. The paper does NOT state a "2.5:1" ratio (the earlier excerpt's figure was unsupported and has been removed); its 11-study meta-analysis ranked regret by life domain, not by an inaction-to-action ratio. It does not provide an inaction-side rate; the directional ~2:1 prevalence figure comes from Pink's World Regret Survey. This source is peer-reviewed corroboration of the directional prediction: quitting (an inaction in the continuation domain) generates more lasting regret than persisting through difficulty.
Source date: 2005-01-01 · Accessed: 2026-05-13
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Career ranks second of six domains in lifetime regret (22.3% of biggest regrets); inaction regrets persist longer than action regrets
“"People's biggest regrets are a reflection of where in life they see their largest opportunities; that is, where they see tangible prospects for change, growth, and renewal."”
Calculation notes
Roese & Summerville (2005), PSPB 31(9), 1273-1285. Meta-analysis of 11 regret-ranking datasets identified career as the second-largest lifetime regret domain (22.3%), after education (32.2%) and before romance (14.8%). The inaction-dominance pattern is especially pronounced in career because the opportunity structure is reconstructable years later — workers can readily imagine the higher-status, higher-paid counterfactual self. Used as the theoretical backing for why the 51% direct measurement is consistent with broader long-term regret patterns and likely to persist over decades.
Source date: 2005-09-01 · Accessed: 2026-05-30
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Romance ranks #3 among regret domains (14.8% of all regrets); regrets of action are more intense in the short term while regrets of inaction are more intense over the long term
“"romance ranked number three (14.8%, SD = 2.34) ... regrets of action are more intense in the short term; regrets of inaction are more intense over the long term ... regrets of inaction persist longer than regrets of action."”
Calculation notes
Roese and Summerville (2005), meta-analysis of nine published articles containing 11 data sets on regret domains, plus a college sample. Romance is the third-most-cited regret domain (14.8%), behind education (32.2%) and career (22.3%). There is no direct survey asking people who confessed romantic feelings and were rejected whether they regret the disclosure, so the 0.25 action- regret rate is a derived proxy, not a measured figure. It is anchored to the paper's documented temporal pattern: action regrets are more intense in the short term but fade, while inaction regrets persist and intensify over the long term, implying durable action-disclosure regret is the minority outcome. proxy_only is set on this entry to disclose that no direct regret-framed survey of this construct exists.
Source date: 2005-09-01 · Accessed: 2026-05-13
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Romance ranks #3 among regret domains (14.8%); regrets of inaction persist longer and are more intense over the long term than regrets of action
“"regrets of action are more intense in the short term; regrets of inaction are more intense over the long term ... regrets of inaction persist longer than regrets of action."”
Calculation notes
Roese and Summerville (2005), meta-analysis of nine published articles / 11 data sets. Provides the theoretical framework for why inaction regret in romance dominates over time: unexplored counterfactuals remain open-ended and persistent, while action regrets resolve as the emotional valence of the rejection fades. The paper documents this action-short-term / inaction-long-term pattern as a general regret finding (it does not break the temporal pattern out by domain), with romance ranked third (14.8%) among regret domains overall.
Source date: 2005-09-01 · Accessed: 2026-05-13
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Long-term retrospective regret concentrates in education, career, and romance domains, where the common thread is missed opportunity for self-actualization in high-importance life areas
“"People's biggest regrets are a reflection of where in life they see their largest opportunities; that is, where they see tangible prospects for change, growth, and renewal."”
Calculation notes
Roese & Summerville (2005), Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 31(9), 1273-1285. Foundational meta-analysis of 11 regret-ranking datasets. Pornography consumption does not appear as a top regret domain in any large lifetime-regret survey, which is itself informative: across thousands of respondents, abstaining from porn does not register as a missed-opportunity signal. Used as theoretical anchor for why the inaction-side rate is plausibly very low — the regret literature systematically identifies the domains where unchosen paths generate durable retrospection, and pornography abstinence is not one of them. Not a direct measurement; supports the order-of-magnitude construction.
Source date: 2005-09-01 · Accessed: 2026-05-30
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Regrets of inaction persist longer than regrets of action, in part because they reflect greater perceived opportunity within affected life domains
“"Regrets of inaction persist longer than regrets of action in part because they reflect greater perceived opportunity."”
Calculation notes
Roese & Summerville (2005), Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 31(9), 1273-1285. Foundational meta-analytic finding that inaction regrets dominate long-term retrospective evaluations. Used as theoretical scaffolding: chronic over-accommodation is a sustained pattern of self-assertion inaction, and the Roese-Summerville pattern predicts it will accumulate more long-term regret weight than discrete firm-limit-setting episodes. Not a direct rate measurement; used as cross-literature support for the inaction-dominant pattern of this decision.
Source date: 2005-09-01 · Accessed: 2026-05-24
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Career accounts for 22.3% of top lifetime regrets in a meta-analysis of 11 regret-ranking datasets; people most regret decisions in domains where they see the largest missed opportunities for change and growth.
“"Life regrets are a reflection of where in life people see opportunity, that is, where they see the most tangible prospects for change, growth, and renewal."”
Calculation notes
Roese and Summerville (2005) meta-analysis of 11 regret-ranking studies. Career ranks second among lifetime regret domains (22.3%), after education (32.2%). This share describes the relative ranking of regret DOMAINS in the general population; it does not measure how many non-veterans regret not serving, and Roese and Summerville never study military service. It is cited here only to show that career/identity choices are a leading regret domain in theory — not as a basis for any specific inaction-regret percentage. The prior version of this entry mis-used the 22.3% figure (plus the Gilovich-Medvec inaction-dominance principle) to back-derive a 25% inaction rate; that derivation was unsupported and has been removed. The inaction side now carries no reliable estimate.
Source date: 2005-09-01 · Accessed: 2026-05-09