Regret

People may be deeply troubled by the lost lives they could have led, and the lost selves they could have been, if they had acted differently in the past. It is associated with the primordial fear of being a loser. For that reason people are loathe to admit regret.

Scientists claim that regret can be a form of creative thought, motivating people to improve upon their lives. Those harbouring regret tend to perform with greater accuracy in judgement and process information more analytically than others.