The Positive Effects of Action Regrets: A Brief Regret Intervention Showing That Environmentally Unfriendly Acts Can Promote Pro-Environmental Behaviors

Abstract

Delay discounting refers to a pervasive tendency to prefer smaller immediate gains to larger future gains. Research on the association between regret and delay discounting suggests that action regrets can induce a lower discounting tendency. Many studies have reported less engagement with climate change mitigation among people who tend to discount the distant benefits of pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs). Hence, reduced discounting should be associated with increased PEBs. Two behavioral experiments revealed that experiencing action regret about environmentally unfriendly acts (vs. inaction regret about environmentally friendly acts) was associated with lower discounting, leading to a greater likelihood of using air conditioning in an energy-saving manner (Experiment 1), choosing a meal (i.e., a participation reward) with a lower environmental impact (Experiment 2), and participating in beach cleaning (Experiment 2). These findings suggest that inducing regret about anti-environmental behaviors might be more effective than simply encouraging the public to engage in PEBs.