Regrets about romance top the list for women in America, according to a
new study by a professor at Northwestern University in Chicago.
Neil Roese, a marketing professor, surveyed 370 adults aged 20 to 80
across the United States by telephone. In asking for their biggest
regrets, Roese says he was met with often-tearful accounts about the one
that got away, a missed opportunity or someone you knew in college
[with whom] it didnt quite work out.
44 percent of women listed romance as their number one regret, while
only 19 percent of men did the same. For men, work-related regrets
outranked romantic ones.
Respondents mentioned family issues, such as a desire to have been
kinder to a loved one, as another main cause of their wistful pangs.
Other frequently-mentioned causes included not going to college, waiting
too long to divorce, or putting money ahead of their life's passion.
Roese has consolation, however, for those wishing for what might have
been. Regret is something that can push people into better success in
the future, he said. Its a benefit if you take a lesson and move on
quickly. Its a problem if you keep [re-living] that same regret over and
over again.
The study will be published in an upcoming issue of Social Psychological and Personality Science.
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