Steel’s 2007 meta-analysis of 691 correlations across 216 studies established a remarkable statistic: over 95% of procrastinators wish they could reduce their procrastination. That figure — originally from O’Brien (2002) and confirmed across subsequent research — captures a near-universal dissatisfaction that is domain-specific and behavioral, unlike the generic forced-choice action/inaction paradigm used in earlier regret research. When over 80% of students report negative emotions (guilt, anxiety, self-blame) after procrastination episodes, and 95% express a desire to change, the construct being measured is functionally indistinguishable from regret.
On the action side, the picture is much quieter. Iyengar, Wells, and Schwartz (2006) followed graduating students through job searches and found that satisficers — those who decide quickly and move on — earned 20% less than maximizers but reported significantly less regret and more satisfaction with their outcomes. Schwartz et al.’s (2002) seven- sample study found satisficers scored well below the midpoint on a continuous Regret Scale. The estimated ~20% who experience meaningful regret about acting quickly is a rough proxy derived from these continuous distributions.
The asymmetry here is among the largest in the dataset, and it is credible because procrastination is defined by the gap between intention and behavior. A procrastinator is, almost by definition, someone who wishes they had acted. The mechanism is well-characterized: Sirois and Pychyl (2013) describe procrastination as a failure of mood regulation where short-term emotional relief is purchased at the cost of long-term regret. A task you rushed and botched can be fixed; a task you never started cannot become anything at all. The 95% figure should be read as a desire-to-change measure rather than a standard binary regret rate, but for a chronic behavioral pattern, wanting to stop IS the regret.