Happiness in the Golden Years: Live and Learn

Everyone has regrets. Now, researchers can tell us what types of things people regret the most.

Researchers from Germany set out to examine the ways in which regret affects emotional health. They conducted a study that involved three groups of participants: healthy young people who averaged 25 years of age; healthy seniors; and depressed seniors (both groups averaged 65 years of age). All of the participants played a simple gambling video game in which the object was to earn money. While they played the game, researchers measured brain activity in a region of the brain involving regret and a region of the brain involved in emotional regulation through fMRI scans.

What did they find?

Young participants and depressed seniors acted on feelings of regret. If they stopped the game prematurely and lost out on a big payoff, they took greater risks in subsequent rounds. In contrast, healthy seniors did not alter their behavior in response to their performance in the game. Also, healthy seniors experienced less regret and had increased brain activity in the region involved in emotional regulation, suggesting they were able to regulate their feelings more successfully while playing the game.

Researchers also measured participants’ heart rates and skin electrical conductivity. Young participants and depressed seniors experienced increased heart rates and sweaty palms when missing out on opportunities in the game. On the other hand, healthy seniors did not show significant differences in heart rate or sweat production, again suggesting less regret and better emotional regulation.

This research suggests that letting go of regrets may be vital to ensuring happiness later in life. According to the study’s authors, “The lack of an age-adapted management of regret experiences may thus represent a risk factor for highly prevalent late-life depression.” People who don’t learn to let go may be at risk for depression down the road. With age comes experience and with experience comes increased chances of regret. They key is to not hold onto those regrets as we age. In fact, the ability to accept and move on is an invaluable “resilience factor” in old age.

Olivia Roat is a reporter for GoStrengths.com, a site focused on teaching happiness and resilience skills to parents and kids.