Regulatory mode orientation and

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• Regulatory mode orientation and
• anticipated regret in the ultimatum game
• Susanne Leder, Mauro Giacomantonio Lucia
  Mannetti
• Zeppelin University
• Sapienza University Rome

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Anticipated Regret in the Ultimatum Game

• Regret
• experienced when we realize that we should have
  made a different choice
• anticipated when we expect to receive information
  (feedback) about the outcome of non-chosen
  options
• consequence regret-avoidance, regret-minimizing
  choices

e.g., Zeelenberg, 1999 Zeelenberg Pieters, 2007
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Anticipated Regret in the Ultimatum Game

• Two possibilities to anticipate/experience
  regret
• for offering too little, when offer is rejected
• for offering too much, when offer is accepted

Zeelenberg Beattie, 1997
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The Influence of Locomotion and Assessment

• Hypothesis
• In persons with a predominant assessment
  orientation, compared to persons with a
  predominant locomotion orientation, offers in the
  ultimatum game are more strongly influenced by
  the tendency to minimize future regret
• Regulatory mode theory
• The two key functions of self-regulation,
  locomotion and assessment, can function as
  independent orientations or modes
• Individuals may self-regulate giving priority
  either to locomotion or to assessment

Higgins, Kruglanski Pierro, 2003 Kruglanski et
al., 2000
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The Influence of Locomotion and Assessment

• LOCOMOTION
• just do it
• Aspect of self-regulation concerned with
• movement from state to state
• initiating and maintaining goal-related movement
• Effects on decision-making
• strategy progressive elimination
• weak tendency to regret and to generate
  counterfactual thoughts

• ASSESSMENT
• do the right thing
• Aspect of self-regulation concerned with
• making comparisons
• critical appraisal of entities or states in
  order to judge relative quality
• Effects on decision-making
• strategy full comparison
• strong tendency to regret and to generate
  counterfactual thoughts

Avnet Higgins, 2003 Higgins et al., 2003
Pierro et al., 2008
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Study

• Hypothesis
• The effect of anticipated regret on offers in the
  ultimatum game is stronger in persons high in
  assessment (vs. high in locomotion)
• Participants
• N 123 (82f, 41m), mean age 23.14 (SD 3.60)
• Measures
• Regret (expected feedback cf. Zeelenberg
  Beattie, 1997)
• You will find out which would have been the
  lowest offer accepted by the responder
• Locomotion and assessment scales (Kruglanski et
  al., 2000)
• Offer (all participants were proposers)
• Considerations (cf. Zeelenberg Beattie, 1997)
• I did not want to feel regret over a too high
  offer
• I did not want to feel regret over a too low
  offer
• I wanted my offer to be as strategic as
  possible
• I was afraid that my offer would not be
  accepted

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Results
F(1,119) 3.77, p lt .05
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Results
F(1,119) 3.96, p lt .05
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• significant covariate (F(1,118) 13.86 p lt
  0.01), effect of regulatory mode orientation n.s.

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Discussion

• Regulatory mode orientation and anticipated
  regret
• Persons high in assessment (vs. high in
  locomotion)
• make lower offers in the ultimatum game both if
  anticipated regret is salient and not salient
• may take into account regret spontaneously before
  making a decision

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THANK YOU!