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Degree

Master of Arts, Miami University, Psychology, 2012.

Abstract

Construal level theory (Trope & Liberman, 2003) has provided insight into many areas of psychology. One area of research that has been relatively unexplored within this framework is regret. Three studies examine the hypothesis that construal level moderates the relationship between future opportunity (both the ability to change a negative outcome and the ability to attain related goals) and regret. Specifically, I predict that those who think abstractly about a situation will experience more regret when they perceive higher levels of future opportunity, but those who think concretely about a situation will experience more regret when they perceive lower levels of future opportunity. Although an initial examination suggested previous studies were manipulating an aspect of construal level (Study 1), the predicted moderation was not supported, even when using multiple manipulations of construal level (Studies 2a and 2b). Possible explanations for these results are discussed.

Subject Headings

Psychology

Keywords

Regret; Construal level; Emotion; Decision-Making; Goal pursuit

Committee / Advisors

Amy Summerville, PhD (Committee Chair)
Allen McConnell, PhD (Committee Member)
Heather Claypool, PhD (Committee Member)

Document number: miami1354560869
Permalink: http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1354560869

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