Consistency-Fit and the Impact of Self-Awareness on Retrospective Regret

Abstract

This study was designed to further explore the nature and experience of regret, and to supplement previous findings from the consistency-fit model of regret (Seta, McElroy, & Seta, 2001; Seta, Seta, McElroy, & Hatz, 2008) with assumptions and findings from the area of self-awareness research. The primary hypothesis was that under conditions of high self-awareness, consistency judgments would be highly salient, and participants who behaved in manners inconsistent with their academic goals or their trait levels of conscientiousness would experience more regret than those participants who behaved in ways that were consistent with these tendencies. A series of ANOVA and regression analyses were conducted in order to investigate the relationships among goal and personality consistency, self-awareness, and retrospective regret. As predicted by the consistency-fit model, there was a significant effect of goal consistency on participants’ experience of regret. However, neither self-awareness nor participants’ conscientiousness levels contributed significantly to this affective reaction. The implications for future research using the consistency-fit model of regret are discussed.