The Effects of Regret on Panic-Buying Homes During COVID-19

    Looking back in your life, it is not uncommon to uneasily think back and regret past decisions. While everyone at some point in their life has experienced regret, some more than others have made decisions that impacted their relationships, health, finances, etc. Oftentimes these decisions have left individuals with lifelong regret. Take for example a pack a day smoker, who when diagnosed with complications related to their bad habit looks back and regrets ever lighting their first cigarette. Many times, decisions to impulsively perform an action happens easily but dealing with the effects is strenuous and many times demotivating. For homebuyers during the COVID19 pandemic, the opportunity to purchase a house, deceived by constant bids from other homebuyers, fueled decisions that led to regret for a multitude of reasons. However, as Dr. Sweis concluded in his study “Mice Learn to Avoid Regret,” it isn’t just humans that cope with regret. 

Dr. Sweis concluded in his study “Mice Learn to Avoid Regret,” it isn’t just humans that cope with regret. Throughout the study the 31 mice were tasked with completing a square maze with four feeding sites and wait areas. The approach to feeding was based on the Restaurant Row economic decision making task. The results of the study concluded that mice were perceptive to feeding, taste of food, going hungry, and how they can avoid doing so. The mice overall learned the cues necessary for feeding and waiting and by accomplishing this, avoided resting while hungry. This overall proved that deliberately waiting to feed, to avoid resting while hungry, points toward the mice regretting not eating prior to rest and learned to avoid doing so as a result of the regret.

Just like the mice understood patterns and learned to avoid regret, humans also exhibit these regretful understandings. During the COVID19 pandemic, many individuals flocked away from crowded cities -where transmission of the virus was higher- to suburban and rural areas. This in turn caused the housing market to inflate prices and caused bidding wars for houses. For many individuals, they broke the primary rule of buying a house; don’t rush. Buyer’s remorse became prominent among millions of Americans who rushed into home buying without conceiving the price, or condition of the house. Oftentimes the purchased home was in less than ideal condition and made regret a shared feeling for many individuals. Just like the mice, regret has to be felt in order for the individual to understand their mistake. With the rampant buyer's remorse, many of these people will end up thinking twice about purchasing a home in the future. Not only will these be a direct correlation to financial burden and unhappy living conditions, but will also be rooted in regret. Over time, I believe future home buyers will learn to avoid these common mistakes in the same way many home buyers did after the 2008 housing market crash. Ultimately, mice and humans are no different in sharing feelings of regret and the result of Dr. Sweis’s research will soon increasingly hold relevance to the panic buying being experienced today. 

References

Sweis BM, Thomas MJ, Redish AD (2018) Mice learn to avoid regret. PLoS Biol 16(6): e2005853. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.2005853

Taylor, Candace. “These People Rushed to Buy Homes During Covid. Now They Regret It.” The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company, 11 Feb. 2021, www.wsj.com/articles/these-people-rushed-to-buy-homes-during-covid-now-they-regret-it-11613062856.