The Regret and Disappointment Scale

The regret and disappointment scale (RDS) is a valid instrument for assessing regret and disappointment in decision making. As the scale does not contain the words 'regret' and 'disappointment', this scale can measure these concepts even if participants and researchers rely on different definitions of the concepts.

Composition of the RDS

Questionnaire Item	Description
I am sorry about what happened to me	Affective reaction
I wish I had made a different choice	Regret counterfactual
I wish the events that were beyond my control had happened differently	Disappointment counterfactual
I feel responsible for what happened to me	Internal attribution
The events that were beyond my control are the cause of what happened to me	External attribution
I am satisfied about what happened to me	Control item
Things would have gone better if... I had chosen differently the course of events had been different	Choice between counterfactuals

Participants can respond to the RDS using a 7-point Likert scale, anchored at 1 (Completely disagree) and 7 (Completely agree).

References

Marcatto, F., & Ferrante, D. (2008). The regret and disappointment scale: An instrument for assessing regret and disappointment in decision making. Judgment and Decision Making, 3(1), 87–99. https://journal.sjdm.org/bb8.pdf