Repenting Hyperopia: An Analysis of Self-Control Regrets

This article proposes that supposedly farsighted (hyperopic) choices of virtue over vice evoke increasing regret over time. We demonstrate that greater temporal separation between a choice and its assessment enhances the regret (or anticipated regret) of virtuous decisions (e.g., choosing work over pleasure). We argue that this finding reflects the differential impact of time on the affective determinants of self-control regrets. In particular, we show that greater temporal perspective attenuates emotions of indulgence guilt but accentuates wistful feelings of missing out on the pleasures of life. We examine alternative explanations, including action versus inaction regrets and levels of construal. There is no memory with less satisfaction than the memory of some temptation we resisted. (James Branch Cabell 1879–1958) Our religions, mythologies, and fables admonish us to overcome temptation, exercise self-discipline, and heed the future (see Adam and Eve, Odysseus, and “The Ant and the Grasshopper”). Consumer researchers, too, offer helpful strategies for increasing willpower and avoiding indulgence