Resist or Give in to an Alternative: Post-Decisional Evaluations of Cost, Value and Regret in the Choice

This study presents a comparative analysis of post-decisional evaluations with reference to a choice made by the subject between an option with an antecedent that had a pleasurable finality while the alternative option was orientated respectively to the undertaking something useful, to fulfilling an obligation, or to the respect of a prior commitment with others. The study focalizes on a particular condition of the subject’s awareness; that is to say that the decision was made with a will to resist to the alternative option, or the knowledge that he has substantially chosen to succumb to the pressure exercised by the alternative option. The study showed such an awareness condition had a significant effect on fundamental judgments that accompany and follow the decisional act, i.e. the rating of the cost of the choice, the value attributed to the choice, the regret associated to the option renounced by the subject.