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On the Existential Road From Regret to Heroism: Searching for Meaning in Life

We investigated whether regret predicted the motivation to act heroically. In a series of studies, we examined the relationship between regret, search for meaning in life, and heroism motivation. First, Study 1 (a and b) investigated the association between regret and search for meaning in life, con...

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Autores principales: Igou, Eric R., van Tilburg, Wijnand A. P., Kinsella, Elaine L., Buckley, Laura K.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6286989/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30559695
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02375
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author Igou, Eric R.
van Tilburg, Wijnand A. P.
Kinsella, Elaine L.
Buckley, Laura K.
author_facet Igou, Eric R.
van Tilburg, Wijnand A. P.
Kinsella, Elaine L.
Buckley, Laura K.
author_sort Igou, Eric R.
collection PubMed
description We investigated whether regret predicted the motivation to act heroically. In a series of studies, we examined the relationship between regret, search for meaning in life, and heroism motivation. First, Study 1 (a and b) investigated the association between regret and search for meaning in life, considering regret as a whole, action regret, and inaction regret. As expected, regret correlated positively with search for meaning in life. In two additional studies (Study 2 and 3), we examined whether regret predicted heroism motivation and whether this effect was mediated through search for meaning in life. Study 2 confirmed this hypothesis for individual differences in regret, using a correlational design. Study 3 confirmed the hypothesis for temporary experiences of regret, using an experimental design. In addition, in Study 3 we found that heroism motivation was stronger for people with high self-enhancement needs than for those with lower self-enhancement needs. We discuss the relationship between regret and heroism in light of these results and explore their implications.
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spelling pubmed-62869892018-12-17 On the Existential Road From Regret to Heroism: Searching for Meaning in Life Igou, Eric R. van Tilburg, Wijnand A. P. Kinsella, Elaine L. Buckley, Laura K. Front Psychol Psychology We investigated whether regret predicted the motivation to act heroically. In a series of studies, we examined the relationship between regret, search for meaning in life, and heroism motivation. First, Study 1 (a and b) investigated the association between regret and search for meaning in life, considering regret as a whole, action regret, and inaction regret. As expected, regret correlated positively with search for meaning in life. In two additional studies (Study 2 and 3), we examined whether regret predicted heroism motivation and whether this effect was mediated through search for meaning in life. Study 2 confirmed this hypothesis for individual differences in regret, using a correlational design. Study 3 confirmed the hypothesis for temporary experiences of regret, using an experimental design. In addition, in Study 3 we found that heroism motivation was stronger for people with high self-enhancement needs than for those with lower self-enhancement needs. We discuss the relationship between regret and heroism in light of these results and explore their implications. Frontiers Media S.A. 2018-12-03 /pmc/articles/PMC6286989/ /pubmed/30559695 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02375 Text en Copyright © 2018 Igou, van Tilburg, Kinsella and Buckley. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychology
Igou, Eric R.
van Tilburg, Wijnand A. P.
Kinsella, Elaine L.
Buckley, Laura K.
On the Existential Road From Regret to Heroism: Searching for Meaning in Life
title On the Existential Road From Regret to Heroism: Searching for Meaning in Life
title_full On the Existential Road From Regret to Heroism: Searching for Meaning in Life
title_fullStr On the Existential Road From Regret to Heroism: Searching for Meaning in Life
title_full_unstemmed On the Existential Road From Regret to Heroism: Searching for Meaning in Life
title_short On the Existential Road From Regret to Heroism: Searching for Meaning in Life
title_sort on the existential road from regret to heroism: searching for meaning in life
topic Psychology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6286989/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30559695
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02375
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