Tuesday, June 7, 2011

No Room For Regret: How To Make Regret A Thing Of The Past!

I must start out this short piece by stating that I would not describe myself as a self-help guru and that this piece is a deviation from the norm for me. I am, however, fascinated by the study of people, and then looking to apply lessons learned. I find the subjects of deception, persuasion, influence and personal safety truly fascinating.

So, this week the news has been filled with stories of woe for people in public life, nothing really new there, who are likely experiencing huge regret for deceit they perpetrated and actions they took that have now returned to haunt them. Specifically, I am talking about John Edwards and Anthony Weiner (the fact that I select two Democrats should further infuriate some of my critics who suggest I am a right wing propagandist / “nut job”; I am neither. For good measure, therefore, I will add that what they are feeling has likely, or hopefully, been felt by Newt Gingrich, David Vitter, Larry Craig and many others).

I have no doubt that John and Anthony are racked with regret right about now, and really wishing that they had kept their pants zipped and their cameras, unlike their libidos, turned off. It is their public expressions of “regret” (with, of course, no admission of guilt for any criminal wrongdoing) that made me revisit some very interesting research regarding regret, that most human of emotions, that we all suffer from time to time.

Unlike our two Lotharios, most people tend to regret what they have NOT done. Indeed, it was the great poet Greenleaf Whittier who summed it up when he wrote, “For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: It might have been.”

I know, and will readily admit, that at times in my life I have wondered what might have been had I made a different decision or done something different. I am sure there are many immigrants who feel this way from time to time, imagining what might have happened had they stayed in the land of their birth or chosen another destination. It is more often than not that I regret not having done something rather than having done something. The sting of regret, however, is always strong no matter the cause.

My personal experience is backed up by the research of Thomas Gilovich of Cornell University who has spent a great part of his career studying regret. A majority of his work has been studying the responses of people who have been asked to look back over their lives and describe their biggest regrets. The percentage split of those surveyed was approximately 75:25, with the former having regret about things they had NOT done. John and Anthony would likely fall into the latter category (although I wonder if ego would make their overriding regret one of “being caught”).

Why is it, then, that the bulk of our regret is for that which we have not done?

While I am sure there are many answers, the most compelling, for me and for Gilovich, is that it is easy for us to see the negative consequences of the things we have done (for example you married the wrong person and as a result spent years suffering from the poor choice you made or you drank too much last night and now feel like the band of the Welsh Guards is playing their fast-march in your head). However, when it comes to things you did not do, it is much harder to envisage the negative consequences and so the “possible positives” run as wild as your imagination will let them. Hence, we can obsess on all the imagined positives we “missed out” on in our life without the counter-balance, or reality check, of negative consequences.

In the words of Percy Shelley, “We look before and after and pine for what is not”. So how can we prevent this from happening?

British psychologist Richard Wiseman suggests that we can remedy some of our regrets by taking the omitted action now. This could be writing a letter, spending time with the family, or returning to college. Although, I am sure, with some people, the regret may then become one of not having done this earlier. One would hope, though, that is a reduced regret, unless things did not go as planned when the action was taken. Perhaps, though I am overanalyzing the point; so I shall move on.

What about things that can never be? Wiseman suggests thinking of three positive consequences of being in your current situation and three negatives that could have occurred had one taken the path not traveled. One could then reflect on these and put things into perspective. It really does work.

As a side note, for those wondering about whether they should have engaged in some form of infidelity, please reference the two fellows mentioned earlier for likely negative consequences (although the incumbent publicity should be less if you are not a public figure).

As for Messrs. Edwards and Weiner I really have no suggestions on how to deal with the regret they are now feeling, this could be because there is little advice that can be given—although I am sure there is some---or because I think that they richly deserve to feel the way they do right now! In all honesty, I think they have made their beds and deserve to lie in them. I say that without fear of regret!

15 comments:

  1. Excellent piece that again is well researched and well written. It is actually common sense when you think about it, that our minds do not conceptualize the negative and only the missed positive. It is with such rose colored glasses that we view much of the good in our past and filter out that bad.

    I will say again, you should take these and put them into a book. You could well have a best-seller!

    ReplyDelete
  2. You said it yourself, again you shoot at the Dems, try a little middle ground for a change and try to at least disguise your bigotry.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I wish people would stop bashing you, this is good stuff and well written and i think if folk would read all of them they would see you are pretty balanced and do your homework. One questio though is how do people stop regreting what they did do? I would be interested to know. I also know I am pretty tired of politicians coming on TV crying about being caught. Best way to prevent that is to not do the stuff in the first place

    ReplyDelete
  4. I always enjoy the quotes. Nicely written and well researched. Do keep them coming.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Angie, Washington DCJune 7, 2011 at 2:31 PM

    This is excellent and very, very well written. I see from your biography that you are a diplomat and I would be interested in some more analysis of foreign affairs and events.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Weiner is getting roasted!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Do you think John Edwards will make a deal? Did you think / detect he was lying when you saw his interview a couple of years back? I am so glad (no regret) that he never became president I can only imagine the investigations and hell would be going through now. he should just go away!

    ReplyDelete
  8. We should all try to end life with as few regrets as possible. Thank you for this wonderful piece and I look forward to reading more!

    ReplyDelete
  9. The passed it is burned field!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Very clever and eloquent propaganda that again shows your true colors. Do you have regrets? You should and so should your friends you should feel shame your whole life.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ignore the haters because they are just jealous. Why do you read it if it makes you so mad? Get a life.

    Keep it coming Mr. P.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I think to that man have more regret than woman. Especial in politics man seem have many problem.

    ReplyDelete
  13. @ Anonymous IdiotJune 7, 2011 at 6:59 PM

    Why do you even read stuff if it pisses you off as bad as it seems. You should chill out and go watch some MSNBC or read Huff Post. Haters make me tired.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I can say what I want and write what I want!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I disagree with your premise only insofar as I think that the ability to fantasize has a good place in our life. It drives us to achieve a happiness equivalent to that we "missed" and also allows for some escapism. There are some regrets though that it would be good to address.

    ReplyDelete