Deciding to exercise: The role of anticipated regret Charles Abraham 1 * and Paschal Sheeran 2 1 University of Sussex, UK 2 University of Sheffield, UK Objectives: Two studies tested (a) whether anticipated regret (AR) qualifies as an additional predictor of intentions to engage in a health-enhancing behaviour (exercise) after variables from the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and past behaviour have been controlled, and (b) whether a manipulation that induces participants to focus on AR causes stronger intentions to exercise. Design: Study 1 employed a cross-sectional questionnaire design; Study 2 employed a between-participants experimental design (AR focus vs. no AR focus). Method: Participants ðN ¼ 385Þ completed standard, multi-item, reliable measures of TPB constructs and AR and also reported their past behaviour (Study 1). Participants in Study 2 ðN ¼ 70Þ completed measures of AR and intention; salience of AR was manipulated by means of item order. Results: Study 1 showed that even though TPB variables and past behaviour were reliable predictors of intention, and explained 51% of the variance, AR contributed a substantial increment in the variance (5%) even after these predictors had been taken into account. Study 2 showed that participants who were induced to focus on AR prior to intention formation had significantly stronger intentions to exercise compared to controls. Conclusion: The findings indicate that AR predicts a health-enhancing behaviour (as well as the health-risk behaviours examined in previous research) and that effects of AR are independent of TPB variables and past behaviour. The findings also indicate that a simple and inexpensive manipulation of the salience of AR can be used to promote exercise intentions. Poor physical fitness is an important risk factor for coronary heart disease and other illnesses (e.g. Blair et al., 1989; US Department of Health and Human Sciences, 1996). Increasing physical activity, through occupational routines or leisure-time exercise, can reduce health risks and increase lifespan by up to 2.5 years (Blair, Kohl, Gordon, & Paffenbarger, 1992; Paffenbarger, Hyde, Wing, & Hsiech, 1986). Exercise may also benefit mental health (see Biddle & Murtire, 1991, for a review) and long-established guidelines * Correspondence should be addressed to Charles Abraham, Department of Psychology, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QG, UK (e-mail: s.c.s.abraham@sussex.ac.uk). 269 British Journal of Health Psychology (2004), 9, 269–278 q 2004 The British Psychological Society www.bps.org.uk