REGRET STYLE SCALE: A NEW MEASURE ASSESSING INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN DECISION MAKING STYLES

Regret is the most studied emotion in decision making processes. In the present study, we present a new measure of dispositional regret style and examine its concurrent and criterion validity. Participants (N=119) were administered in small group sessions the regret style scale with depression and anxiety scales. Participants took one month away the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART; Lejuez et al., 2002) and state mood in a second research session. Results showed that the regret style scale had a sound one-factor structure, high reliability coefficient (Cronbach's alpha equal to .89). Furthermore we found a correlations' set ranging from small to moderate with negative mood, depression and anxiety measures. Regression analyses also revealed that regret style predicted less risk taking in BART either controlling or not controlling for other negative affect measures. Implications for personality and decision making research are discussed.