過去西方研究顯示，個人做決策時的個人責任感會影響事後的後悔程度。然而，在社會取向的華人社會中，做重要決定時子女往往會聽從父母的意見，特別是大學科系的選擇。因此，子女是否將責任歸於父母也會影響孩子的後悔程度。本研究進行三個研究來檢驗聽不聽父母的話對後悔所造成的影響及其影響機制。前導研究（n=94; age=45）與兩個研究（ n=143, 268; age=18, 18）皆顯示，聽父母話比不聽話更後悔。研究一顯示個人感受到的犧牲感會中介聽父母話對後悔程度的影響，且此犧牲感大小會受到家庭經濟好壞的調節。研究二則顯示，歸咎父母的責任會中介聽話對後悔程度的影響，但是歸咎自己責任則不會。整體而言，研究結果呼應研究假設，在華人社會中，決策後的後悔與重要他人或「大我」較有關聯。

Previous western research showed that personal responsibility for decision making can influence the degree of regret. However, in social-orientation Chinese society, children usually have to obey their parents for important decisions, such as choosing college majors. Therefore, children's attribution to parent's responsibility can alter children's degrees of regret. The purpose of this research including three studies is to examine the effects and mechanisms of obedience or disobedience on regret. All the results of the pilot study (n=94; age=45) and 2 following studies (n=143, 268; age=18, 18) showed that to obey parents made participants more regretful than to disobey. Study 1 provided that sacrifice mediated the effects of obedience or disobedience on regret, and household economic status moderated the effects of sacrifice on regret. Study 2 revealed that responsibility attribution to parents mediated the effects of obedience or disobedience on regret, but responsibility attribution to self did not. Overall, these findings echoed the authors' expectations and showed that regrets in Chinese society are mostly associated with their significant others and "great self".