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Arrival Fallacy and Anticipated regret.

By Bamboo In The Wind

There are situations where we do not feel like making a move. Sometimes we don't feel good about our accomplishments, and at other times we prohibit ourselves from taking action. There is circumstantial evidence to prove that our decisions will be beneficial over time.

Yet it doesn't look to us that way. We are unable to explain the rationale for why we feel that way and what could make us deal with such feelings.

There are a couple of scenarios that contribute to this state. Those that take away the joy of the process of making decisions or feeling of happiness from any outcomes as a result.

The first scenario triggers the anxiety about how long we will experience the happiness of accomplishments and with what intensity. 

We change jobs, get higher salaries, get promotions, buy new homes, and buy new cars. We tend to feel good about accomplishments only until we get there. It might feel that way for some time shortly after. But then it starts to feel like it does not attract us anymore. The happiness of achieving our desires starts to diminish.

This phenomenon is called the Arrival Fallacy.

The second scenario triggers the anxiety about whether we might face negative experiences of decisions we make in the future. In this scenario, our tendency is not to act in the present time to avoid disappointments in the future, promoting the status quo.

The customer evaluates many providers and end-up not selecting any because of perceived embarrassment they may face in the future for the decision they make today. Or our perception that the course work is hard can cause us not to take the course because we might face regret in future for acting on it now.

This phenomenon is called Anticipated regret.

Both these psychological emotions need to be dealt with caution. If we do not understand these, they have the potential to block the action.

If we learn to see these emotions, we can build actions to work around them. When the occurrence of emotions is anticipated ahead of time in our thinking, it helps us deal with the paucity of satisfaction or abundance of fear; without affecting the action that triggers them.

Recognize that these can present themselves when we least expect them. So it is best to know these well.

Comments

  1. Anonymous12 August 2022 at 16:07

    https://twitter.com/naval/status/1017619107196297216?s=20&t=CsLZoq7evO_xVTmuIRBJcQ

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