Oddly Wired
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emotion

You feel worse because you imagined a better outcome.

A 1997 review article by Neal Roese synthesizes the established connection between upward counterfactuals and regret, a relationship previously identified in earlier empirical research.

The finding was not originally 'found' by a 1997 study; it is a well-established psychological construct derived from earlier experimental work.

You feel worse not because of the reality, but because of the alternative you invented.

Where this comes from

Study
Neal Roese (1997)
What the check found
Roese (1997) is a influential review paper, but the claim incorrectly attributes the initial empirical discovery of this effect to it rather than the earlier studies it synthesizes.
Confidence
Solid, with limits

Related

One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.