Why people are reluctant to tempt fate
Risen and Gilovich found that making a choice that presupposes one state of the world can make the opposite state seem more likely, even when the choice has no causal effect. They explained this through anticipated regret, which brings the bad outcome easily to mind.
Risen and Gilovich found that making a choice that presupposes one state of the world can make the opposite state seem more likely, even when the choice has no causal effect. They explained this through anticipated regret, which brings the bad outcome easily to mind.
Written from the secondary report read 2026-11-03 (the 2011 paper's introduction).
What our sources record
Recorded when this source was checked, figures included, with page references and quotation marks removed.
Risen, J. L., & Gilovich, T. (2008). Why people are reluctant to tempt fate. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95(2), 293-307. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.95.2.293 https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.95.2.293