Measuring Experienced and Anticipated Regret Regulation: Development and Validation of the Regret Regulation Scale (RRS)

ABSTRACT Regret is a highly aversive emotion that people attempt to regulate both before and after making decisions. The present research introduces the Regret Regulation Scale (RRS), a self‐report instrument assessing the dispositional tendency to prevent anticipated regret and to manage experienced regret. Across three studies, the scale's development, reliability, and validity were examined. Exploratory factor analyses identified a six‐factor structure for the Regret Anticipation and Prevention subscale and a five‐factor structure for the Experienced Regret Regulation subscale, together explaining a substantial portion of variance. Confirmatory factor analyses in an independent sample supported these structures, yielding satisfactory fit indices. The RRS demonstrated good internal consistency, temporal stability over 4 weeks, and appropriate convergent and discriminant validity through correlations with measures of regret, maximization, life satisfaction, cognitive emotion regulation, counterfactual thinking, and affective well‐being (depression and trait anxiety). Findings indicate that the RRS is a reliable and valid multidimensional tool to assess strategies individuals use to regulate anticipated and experienced regret. It contributes to a deeper understanding of regret's role in decision‐making and emotional well‐being and has potential applications for research and clinical practice aimed at enhancing adaptive regulation strategies.