Acute stress amplifies experienced and anticipated regret in counterfactual decision-making

Stress affects emotional processing. This study investigated the effects of acute stress on emotional decision-making using a typical counterfactual decision-making task. Acute stress amplifies anticipated and experienced regret, supporting the dual-process framework of more emotional, intuitive decision-making.

Stress and its numerous causes and consequences have been a significant focus of psychological research. Previous studies have shown that stress can impact emotional processing across a wide range of settings. Researchers have explored how different stressors influence emotional responses and decision-making, revealing that stress can alter how individuals process emotions and make decisions. These findings underscore the complex relationship between stress and emotional regulation, suggesting that stress not only affects immediate emotional reactions but also influences long-term emotional patterns and decision-making processes in various contexts. This ongoing research continues to deepen our understanding of stress’s broad effects.

Anticipated and Experienced Regret: How Acute Stress Influences Emotional Decision-Making

However, despite extensive research on stress, researchers have given little attention to its effects on emotional decision-making. A study conducted by the psychologists of the Leiden university addressed this question by experimentally exposing healthy young participants sometimes to a stressor , and sometimes to the socially evaluated cold processor talk that is a non-stressful control task. In both experimental and control conditions, 30 participants were involved, making the study include 60 young adults. Participants completed a computerized task comparing actual outcomes with counterfactual outcomes to assess decision-making under stress. Researchers collected saliva samples at four points to analyze cortisol levels during the experiment.

The results have indicated that acute stress induced a significant salivary cortisol increase over the experimental task. At the outcome delivery stage, acute stress amplified negative emotions induced by comparing actual outcomes with counterfactual outcomes. At the choice stage, that is the stage under stress, participants were more tilted toward making regret-averse decisions.

Findings show acute stress amplifies experienced and anticipated regret, supporting the dual-process model of emotional decision-making.