Abstract

This study was designed to investigate the impact of life regret on activity engagement and emotional well-being in the early stages of retirement. We asked a total of 463 recent retirees to report their most severe life regret and their perception of opportunity and motivation to undo the negative consequences of the regret. We also asked the participants to report their current level of activity engagement and emotional well-being at both post-retirement (Mean years since retirement = 1.39, SD = .86) and one-year follow-up. In addition, the participants also retrospectively reported their pre-retirement level of activity engagement. We expected that regret may play an adaptive role in the activities and emotional well-being of recent retirees. In particular, we reasoned that regret could be adaptive if the individual is motivated to undo the regret and opportunities are favorable. We found that engagement in optional activities (e.g., volunteering, socializing, traveling) was higher at post-retirement and follow-up than at pre-retirement, whereas there were no differences found when examining engagement in obligatory maintenance activities (e.g., household chores, finances). In support of our hypothesis, we found that regret was predictive of both high levels of optional activities and high levels of positive affect post-retirement when retirees are engaged to undo the negative consequences of the regret and opportunities are favorable. Furthermore, the study's results suggest that engagement in optional activities partially mediated the relationship between regret and positive affect. These findings imply that regret can play an adaptive role in later life such as influencing engagement in activities of personal interest and investment. The implications for pathways to active and happier lives in old age are discussed.