Repenting Hyperopia

This article proposes that supposedly farsighted ("hyperopic") acts of resisting temptation and choosing virtue over vice evoke increasing regret over time. We show 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 explain this finding based on the notion that a broader perspective on life allows consumers to escape the influence of "indulgence guilt" and recognize their tendency to miss out on hedonic experiences. Accordingly, it is shown that the intensifying regret about hyperopia is mediated by the decay of guilt and the persistence and often accumulation of feelings of missing out. We also demonstrate that reversals in self-control regrets affect immediate, real choices. Whereas thinking about short-term regret motivates consumers to chose virtue, thinking about long-term regret impels them to select indulgence. This effect is demonstrated when consumers judge the regrets of others, anticipate their own future regret about a real impending choice, or consider their regret about a (supposedly) unrelated, past decision. We discuss the theoretical implications of the findings for self-control and other perspective-dependent literatures and rule out alternative explanations.