Regret

Regret is a commonly experienced emotion which occurs when we realize or imagine that our present situation may have had a better outcome had we chosen differently in the past. Regret is therefore reliant on (a) the ability to imagine what might have been and (b) personal responsibly for causing the outcome. The experience of regret is generally unpleasant (and ruminating over life regrets can have long-term health and psychological consequences), but regret may also serve an adaptive purpose. Regret can help a person learn from past mistakes and motivate different choices in the future.

Consider the following scenario: You are invited to attend a job interview and you decide to save some money by traveling to the interview by bus instead of spending more money ...