1. Samantha E. White-Truckle, B.Sc. and Gary T. Reker, Ph.D.
MEASURING EXISTENTIAL REGRET IN OLDER ADULTS: THE DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF THE MULTIDIMENSIONAL EXISTENTIAL REGRET INVENTORY (MERI)
Samantha E. White-Truckle, B.Sc. and Gary T. Reker, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
Trent University
Abstract
Main Findings
Measures
Existential regret is a state of despair, guilt, and anxiety experienced over missed opportunities and failures to actualize personal and interpersonal potentials in life. This study reports on the development of the 50-item Multidimensional Existential Regret Inventory (MERI) with data collected from 106 community residing elderly. Item analysis resulted in the retention of 46 items and an exploratory principal components factor analysis uncovered 5 factors (60% of the variance): Inner Struggle, Limits on Experience, Neglecting Others, Self-Deprecation, and Undoing the Past. Secondary qualitative analyses of responses to the question, “Do you have any regrets in life?” clearly confirmed the content validity of each dimension. Regarding psychometric properties, the MERI and MERI subscales demonstrated good internal consistency. In support of construct validity, the MERI correlated positively with existential guilt, existential vacuum, depression, and a compromised health status, and negatively with personal meaning, death acceptance, self-forgiveness, personal responsibility, secondary control, and life satisfaction. The MERI showed some overlap with a measure of social desirability. No significant differences on the MERI and MERI subscales were found for gender, age, marital status, and living arrangements. Overall, the MERI shows promise as a useful tool for examining the impact of existential regret on the well-being and successful aging of older adults.
Existential Guilt:
Peterborough Existential Guilt Scale (PEGS: Reker & Parker, 1997)
Personal Meaning:
Personal Meaning Index (LAP-R: Reker, 1992)
Death Acceptance, Existential Vacuum:
Dimensions of the 48-item Life Attitude Profile-Revised (LAP-R: Reker, 1992)
Self-Forgiveness, Personal Responsibility, Secondary Control:
11 point Ladder
Subjective Well-Being (Depression and Life Satisfaction):
20-item Zung Depression Scale (reverse scored), 13-item Life Satisfaction Index
Physical Health:
OARS 24-item checklist of physical health symptoms and degree of influence on functioning
Therapeutic Reminiscence:
6-items, reflects therapeutic dimension of the Uses of Reminiscence Scale (Merriam, 1993)
Spirituality:
24-item Spiritual Transcendence Scale (Reker, 2003)
Social Desirability:
Impression Management Subscale (Paulhus, 1998)
Regrets:
Do You Have Any Regrets in Life?: Open-ended question
Item analysis (item-total correlations .30 or greater) resulted in 46 good items.
A five factor model of existential regret provided the best fit to the data (see Table 1).
Qualitative analyses of “Do you have any regrets in life?” confirmed the content validity of
each MERI dimension.
The MERI and its five subscales were highly reliable and demonstrated moderate inter-
correlations (see Table 2).
The MERI correlated significantly with an identical criterion measure (PEGS), sharing
69% of the variance.
Related criterion measures correlated moderately and significantly with the MERI and the
MERI subscales (see Table 3).
The MERI shared some variance (7%) with social desirability.
No differences were found for gender, age, marital status, and living arrangements.
Discussion
The role of existential regret in the lives of older adults is extremely important to recognize. The MERI and its subscales demonstrate great potential for detecting and measuring its presence, as well as identifying relevant areas for therapeutic intervention. The fact that the overall scale demonstrated good reliability and validity, with an underlying structure composed of 5 relatively independent but related dimensions, reveals its usefulness for helping older adults successfully navigate the aging process to achieve a better quality of life.
Moreover, recognizing the impact of existential regret on well-being will enable mental health practitioners to assist patients to overcome and move away from their regrets to create a more positive view of themselves, their past, and the future that lies ahead of them.
Theoretical Model
Based on the writings of Frankl (1969, 1978) and Lucas (2004), existential regret is a separate, self-directed form of regret characterized by the feeling that one has neglected to develop and remain true to the self by ignoring the chances and responsibilities he or she had to actualize personal and interpersonal potentials. Occurring during the later states of life, existential regret is an overwhelming sense of unfulfillment, lack of meaning in life, self-blame, feelings of guilt and despair, as well as an inability to disengage from one’s regret(s).
Statistical Analyses
Item analyses, EPC factor analysis, criterion-validity correlations, and content analyses of the open-ended question were conducted.
MERI Dimension
MERI
IS LE NO SD UP
Inner Struggle (IS)
Limits on Experience (LE)
Neglecting Others (NO)
Self-Deprecation (SD)
Undoing the Past (UP)
1.00
.87**
.78**
.83**
.86**
.80**
.56***
.64***
.68***
.58***
.57***
.67***
.59***
.55***
Results
Existential Regret
Missed Opportunities in Personal and Interpersonal Domains
Cognitive
Emotional
Counterfactual Thought
Feelings of
Despair
Self-Blame
Anticipated
Regret
Maladjustment
Existential
Guilt
Anxiety
Table 1
Rotated Factor Structure and Loadings of the 35-Item MERI (N=106)
Limitations and Future Research
Table 2
Inter-Correlations, Means and Standard Deviations across the MERI and MERI Subscales (N=106)
Factor
MERI Item/Description I II
III IV V I. 4. 6.
15.
17.
21.
23.
24.
30.
34.
42.
43.
II. 5.
20.
36.
48.
III. 9.
10.
12.
25.
27.
37.
45.
49.
IV. 2.
11.
13.
14.
16.
18.
35. V.
22.
28.
38.
44.
50.
Inner Struggle (α = .91)
I experience a great deal of anxiety over the fact that I cannot change the past.
I often become restless when I think about my unresolved conflicts.
I find myself living in the past instead of the future.
I often experience a state of inner turmoil and despair.
My thoughts about the past often interfere with my daily life and activities.
I cannot stop thinking about what could have been.
I frequently experience a great sense of emptiness in my life.
I have difficulty seeing new alternatives in life.
I find it difficult to trust myself enough to know that I am making the right decision.
In spite of all the things I did not do in my life, I find it easy to move on.*
I fear making future choices because I do not want to let myself down again.
Limits on Experience (α = .72)
I think that I have done the best I could in life.*
I cannot seem to find a good enough reason for why I failed to achieve important goals in my life.
I lament not taking chances to discover all that life has to offer.
I feel as though I have ignored my own potential.
Neglecting Others (α = .89)
I feel as though I have neglected significant others in my life.
I wish I had spent more time and energy with loved ones.
I lament not taking a greater responsibility to help others in need.
I worry that I have let my family down by failing to remain close and involved.
I feel as though I have failed to live up to my responsibilities to others.
It upsets me to think that I have let others down in the past.
I feel as though I have failed to develop positive relationships with others.
I feel angry with myself for not fulfilling the needs of family, friends, or others in my life.
Self-Deprecation (α = .86)
I often find it hard to understand why I failed to make certain choices in my life.
I am mad at myself for making decisions in the past without thinking about how they would shape my life later.
It troubles me to realize that I have made choices in life without listening to myself.
I blame myself for missed opportunities.
I hardly ever dwell on my past choices.*
I often criticize myself for not living the life I wanted to.
I often feel guilty about failing to pursue goals and opportunities for achievement.
Undoing the Past (α = .84)
I would not want to change anything about my past.*
I feel as though things would be so much better for me if I had only acted on certain opportunities.
I wish I had done more with my life.
If I could live my life over again, I would do it differently.
I often feel constrained by my past choices.
Eigenvalues
Percent Variance
.57
.44
.72
.68
.76
.46
.71
.65
.73
.14
.09
.18
.16
.20
.02
.22
.27
.39
.47
.37
.25
.28
.12
.42
13.83
39.52
.35
-.04
-.03
.05
.04
.41
.24
.31
.03
.40
.63
.67
.49
.08
.15
.29
-.06
.32
-.12
.43
.19
2.26
6.46
.06
.26
.21
.75
.70
.61
.78
.60
.56
.66
.11
.07
2.01
5.75
.33
.36
.34
.23
.51
.59
.13
1.39
3.97
-.10
.17
.79
1.30
3.71
Data collection was based on a homogenous sample comprised of highly functioning
older adults, thereby limiting the range of individual differences observed and the
generalizability of the findings.
A small sample size and time constraints prevented a confirmatory factor analysis of
current MERI structure as well as a test-retest reliability estimate of stability.
Figure 1: Conceptualized Structure of Existential Regret
Males
Mean
Standard Deviation
Purpose
Females
Mean
Socially desirable response tendencies were not controlled, potentially compromising
the validity of the MERI and MERI subscales.
Standard Deviation
The purpose of this study was to develop a reliable and valid multidimensional measure of existential regret for use with older adults.
Overall
Mean
_________________________________________________________________
Standard Deviation
*p <.05. **p <.01. ***p <.001.
Future research should control for socially desirable responding at the item level by
eliminating items found to correlate highly with a global measure of social desirability.
Future research should also utilize more diverse samples (i.e., age, socio-economic status.
ethnic group)
Table 3
Convergent and Discriminant Evidence of Construct Validity of the MERI and MERI Subscales (N=106)
Method
Criterion Measure
MERI IS LE NO SD UP
Mean
Existential Guilt
Personal Meaning
Death Acceptance
Existential Vacuum
Self-Forgiveness
Personal Responsibility
Secondary Control
Depression
Life Satisfaction
Physical Health Symptoms
Physical Health Function
Therapeutic Reminiscence
Spirituality
Inner Connectedness
Human Compassion
Connectedness with Nature
Social Desirability (IM)
.83***
-.52***
-.31**
.76***
-.39***
-.20*
-.53***
.57***
-.55***
.30*
.24*
.11
-.04
-.06
-.00
-.28**
.70***
-.51***
-.35***
-.27**
-.64***
.69***
-.61***
.37***
.32**
-.02
-.01
-.05
-.14
.66***
-.40***
.61***
-.03
-.38***
.10
.08
-.07
.06
-.10
-.16
-.12
.55***
-.11
.43***
.21*
.18
.09
-.08
.04
.01
-.30**
.71***
.73***
-.15
-.50***
.23*
.20*
-.09
-.29**
.68***
-.42***
-.21*
.56***
-.26**
-.19
.33***
-.45***
.12
.03
56.32
78.12
37.84
24.33
8.13
9.42
8.85
34.74
22.25
2.89
5.13
21.43
108.56
45.01
33.03
30.52
90.80
20.78
14.17
8.43
7.60
2.36
1.75
1.90
7.84
2.81
2.00
4.04
4.90
32.03
15.92
11.50
7.86
16.46
Participants
sample of 106 (56% female) older adults (mean age = 66 years, range years)
72% were married; 17% widowed; 10% divorced/separated; 1% never married
79% reported being satisfied or extremely satisfied with their financial situation
44% high school; 17% community college; 17% university; 13% post-graduate
88% needed no assistance with everyday activities
69% lived with a spouse; 15% lived alone; 9% lived with family
Selected References
Frankl, V.E. (1969). The will to meaning: Foundations and applications of logotherapy. New York:
The World Publishing Company.
Lucas, M. (2004). Existential regret: A crossroads of existential anxiety and existential guilt.
Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 44,
Reker, G.T. (1992). Manual of the Life Attitude Profile-Revised (LAP-R). Peterborough, ON:
Student Psychologists Press.
Reker, G.T. (2003). Provisional Manual of the Spiritual Transcendence Scale (STS-24). Peterborough,
ON: Student Psychologists Press.
Reker, G.T., & Parker, J.D.A. (1997). The Peterborough Existential Guilt Scale (PEGS). Peterborough,
ON: Department of Psychology, Trent University.
Procedure
Participants were recruited from the Peterborough area and other regions of Southern Ontario through word of mouth, personal contacts, and advertisements in local malls, seniors’ centers, and community centers. Participants completed a questionnaire package consisting of the target scale and a number of other scales. In return for their participation, subjects were entered into a draw for a chance to win a cash prize of $200.
Note. IS (Inner Struggle), LE (Limits on Experience), NO (Neglecting Others), SD (Self-Deprecation), UP (Undoing the Past).
*p <.05. **p <.01. ***p <.001.
Note. Factor loadings equal to or > .40 are underscored.
* indicates item requiring reverse scoring.
Cronbach’s α = .95