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{{short description|Feeling of dissatisfaction following the failure of an expectation to manifest}}
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[[File:"Disappointment" - 1882 - Julius Leblanc Stewart.jpg|thumb|262px|''Disappointment'' (1882), by [[Julius LeBlanc Stewart]]]]
{{emotion}}

'''Disappointment''' is the feeling of [[dissatisfaction]] that follows the failure of [[Expectation (epistemic)|expectations]] or [[hope]]s<ref>{{Cite book|last=State Home and Training School, Mich|first=Michigan. Lapeer|title=Staff Papers, 1932|publisher=the University of Michigan|year=1932|pages=31}}</ref> to manifest. Similar to [[regret (emotion)|regret]], it differs in that a person who feels regret focuses primarily on the personal choices that contributed to a poor outcome, while a person feeling disappointment focuses on the outcome itself.<ref name="Regret">{{cite journal |author=Bell, David E. |title=Putting a premium on regret |journal=Management Science |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=117–20 |date=January 1985 |doi=10.1287/mnsc.31.1.117 |jstor=2631680}}</ref> It is a source of psychological [[stress (biological)|stress]].<ref name="Ma">{{cite web |first=Lybi |last=Ma | title=Down But Not Out | website=Psychology Today | date=2004-03-29 | url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/articles/200403/down-not-out}}</ref> The study of disappointment—its causes, impact, and the degree to which individual decisions are motivated by a desire to avoid it—is a focus in the field of [[decision analysis]],<ref name="Regret"/><ref name="Blessed">{{cite journal |last1=van Dijk | first1=Wilco W. | last2=Zeelenberg | first2=Marcel | last3=van der Pligt | first3=Joop |title=Blessed are those who expect nothing: Lowering expectations as a way of avoiding disappointment |journal=Journal of Economic Psychology |volume=24 |issue=4 |pages=505–16 |date=August 2003 |doi=10.1016/S0167-4870(02)00211-8 |url=https://research.tilburguniversity.edu/files/516026/2003_JoEP.pdf  }}</ref> as disappointment is, along with [[regret]], one of two primary emotions involved in [[decision-making]].<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Wilco W. van Dijk |author2=Marcel Zeelenberg |title=Investigating the appraisal patterns of regret and disappointment |journal=Motivation and Emotion |volume=26 |issue=4 |pages=321–31 |date=December 2002 |doi=10.1023/A:1022823221146|s2cid=55491643 |url=https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/6d0324bf-70d0-4095-9e6a-b1052b904324 }}</ref>

== Etymology ==
''Disappoint'' is traced to the [[Middle English]] ''disappointen'' by way of the [[Old French]] ''desapointer''. In literal meaning, it is to remove from office.<ref>{{Cite American Heritage Dictionary|disappoint}}</ref> Its use in the sense of general [[frustration]] traces to the late 15th century, and it first appears recorded in [[English (language)|English]] as an emotional state of [[depression (mood)|dejection]] in the middle 18th century.<ref>{{Cite OED| disappointment }}</ref>

== Psychology ==
Disappointment is a subjective response related to [[Anticipation|anticipated]] rewards.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kennett|first=White|date=1715|title=A Seasonable Discourse of the Rise, Progress, Discovery, and Utter Disappointment of the Gun-powder Treason and Rebellion Plotted by the Papists in 1605 3 Jam. 1. As Delivered in a Sermon Preach'd in the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, London, on the 5th of November, 1715. ...|journal=A Seasonable Discourse of the Rise, Progress, Discovery, and Utter Disappointment of the Gun-powder Treason and Rebellion Plotted by the Papists in 1605|publisher=T. Wood, and T. Sharpe|pages=24}}</ref> Disappointment recovery time depends on the intensity of the disappointment, as well as the person experiencing the disappointment. For some it can take a few minutes while for others the same disappointment can take a few days.

Disappointment, and an inability to prepare for it, has also been hypothesized as the source of occasional [[immune system]] compromise in [[optimism|optimists]].<ref name="Todd">{{cite web | last=Schwartz | first=Todd | title=Positive Thinking | website=lclark.edu | date=2003-09-05 | url=http://www.lclark.edu/dept/chron/positives03.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307175146/http://www.lclark.edu/dept/chron/positives03.html | archive-date=2008-03-07 | url-status=dead}}</ref> While optimists by and large exhibit better health,<ref name="Jill">{{cite web |first=Jill |last=Neimark |title=The Optimism Revolution | website=Psychology Today | date=2007-04-23 | url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/articles/200705/the-optimism-revolution}}</ref> they may alternatively exhibit less immunity when under prolonged or uncontrollable stress, a phenomenon which researchers have attributed to the "disappointment effect".<ref name="Todd"/> The "disappointment effect" posits that optimists do not utilize "emotional cushioning" to prepare for disappointment and hence are less able to deal with it when they experience it.<ref name="Jill"/><ref>{{cite web | title=Is it best to expect the worst? Psychologists test long-held theory of emotional cushioning. | website=Psych Central.com | date=2006-02-04 | url=http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2006/02/04/is-it-best-to-expect-the-worst-psychologists-test-long-held-theory-of-emotional-cushioning/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151122214351/http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2006/02/04/is-it-best-to-expect-the-worst-psychologists-test-long-held-theory-of-emotional-cushioning/ | archive-date=2015-11-22 | url-status=dead}}</ref> This disappointment effect has been challenged since the mid-1990s by researcher [[Suzanne Segerstrom]], who has published, alone and in accord, several articles evaluating its plausibility. Her findings suggest that, rather than being unable to deal with disappointment, optimists are more likely to actively tackle their problems and experience some immunity compromise as a result.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Segerstrom SC |title=How does optimism suppress immunity? Evaluation of three affective pathways |journal=Health Psychol |volume=25 |issue=5 |pages=653–57 |date=September 2006 |pmid=17014284 |pmc=1613541 |doi=10.1037/0278-6133.25.5.653 }}. See also {{cite journal |author=Segerstrom SC |title=Optimism and immunity: do positive thoughts always lead to positive effects? |journal=Brain Behav. Immun. |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=195–200 |date=May 2005 |pmid=15797306 |pmc=1948078 |doi=10.1016/j.bbi.2004.08.003 }}</ref>

In 1994, [[psychotherapist]] [[Ian Craib]] published the book ''The Importance of Disappointment'', in which he drew on the works of [[Melanie Klein]] and [[Sigmund Freud]] in advancing the theory that disappointment-avoidant culture—particularly [[Psychotherapy|therapy]] culture—provides false [[Expectation (epistemic)|expectations]] of perfection in life and prevents people from achieving a healthy [[self-concept|self-identity]].<ref>{{cite book  | last = Seale  | first = Clive  | title = Media and Health | url = https://archive.org/details/mediahealth00seal  | url-access = limited  | publisher = Sage Publications, Inc | year = 2002  | location = London  | pages=[https://archive.org/details/mediahealth00seal/page/n179 167], 242 | isbn = 978-0-7619-4730-1}}</ref> Craib offered as two examples [[Lawsuit|litigious]] victims of [[Malpractice|medical mistakes]], who once would have accepted accidents as a course of life, and [[grief|grieving]] people following the death of a loved one who, he said, are provided a false [[Kübler-Ross model|stage model of recovery]] that is more designed to comfort bereavement therapists than the bereaved.<ref>{{harvnb|Seale|2002|p=167–168}}</ref>

[[Jacques Lacan|Lacanians]] considered childhood disappointment essential to entry into the [[The Symbolic|symbolic world of culture]];<ref>{{cite book | last1=Waelhens | first1=Alphonse de | last2=Eecke | first2=Wilfried Ver | title=Phenomenology and Lacan on Schizophrenia | publisher=Leuven University Press | publication-place=Leuven | date=2001 | isbn=978-90-5867-160-8 | page=181}}</ref> disappointment in adulthood - the frustration of our demands by the world - as key to discovering who in fact we are.<ref>{{cite book | last=Hill | first=Philip | title=Lacan For Beginners | publisher=Red Wheel/Weiser | date=2009-08-25 | isbn=978-1-939994-13-4 | page=68}}</ref>

==Law==
Where goods or services have been purchased in the hope of some enjoyment and the delivery of the goods or services fails to generate the anticipated result, customers have at times sought damages for [[breach of contract]] on the grounds of disappointment and distress. Such damages are not generally allowed by the courts, but there are cases where an award for damages has been considered and agreed. [[English law]] cases include [[Jarvis v Swans Tours Ltd]] (1972) and [[Farley v Skinner]] (2001).

Milner v Carnival (2010) is another example where customers, in this case Mr and Mrs Milner, who took an extended cruise on the [[Cunard]] ship ''Queen Victoria'', had expectations of a benefit which did not materialise and for which damages were sought both for "diminution of value" (the quantifiable difference between the payment made and the value derived) and for "distress and disappointment". Judge [[Simon Tuckey]] gave permission for an appeal against the trial ruling on damages, noting that this case "may provide the opportunity to give authoritative guidance on the appropriate measure of damages in 'holiday' cases" where disappointment is an issue.<ref>Ward, LJ, [https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2010/389.html Milner & Anor v Carnival Plc (t/a Cunard)] (2010) [[Court of Appeal (England and Wales)|EWCA]] Civ 389, paragraph 2, judgment delivered 20 April 2010, accessed 27 November 2022</ref>

== Theory ==

[[File:Untitled (Disappointed).jpg|thumb|right|200px|''Untitled - Woman with a peacock'' (1919), by [[Jogesh Chandra Seal]]]]

Disappointment theory, pioneered in the mid-1980s by [[David E. Bell]] with further development by [[Graham Loomes]] and [[Robert Sugden (economist)|Robert Sugden]],<ref name="INSEAD">{{cite journal | last1=Delquié | first1=Philippe | last2=Cillo | first2=Alessandra | title=Disappointment without prior expectation: a unifying perspective on decision under risk | journal=Journal of Risk and Uncertainty | publisher=Springer | volume=33 | issue=3 | year=2006 | issn=0895-5646 | jstor=41761247 | pages=197–215 |doi=10.1007/s11166-006-0499-4|s2cid=153598000}}</ref> revolves around the notion that people contemplating [[risk]]s are disappointed when the outcome of the risk is not evaluated as positively as the [[Expectation (epistemic)|expected]] outcome.<ref name="INSEAD" /> Disappointment theory has been utilized in examining such diverse decision-making processes as return [[Emigration|migration]], taxpayer compliance and customer willingness to pay.<ref>See, for example, [http://ciep.itam.mx/~cuecuecha/Whydopeople2.pdf Why Do People Go Home Again? Disappointment Theory and Target Saving Theory Revisited]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080414113537/http://ciep.itam.mx/~cuecuecha/Whydopeople2.pdf |date=April 14, 2008 }}, {{cite journal |author1=David Kelsey |author2=Albert Schepanski |title=Regret and disappointment in taxpayer reporting decisions: An experimental study |journal=Journal of Behavioral Decision Making |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=33–53 |year=1991 |doi=10.1002/bdm.3960040104 |url=http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/112770712/ABSTRACT?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121210183445/http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/112770712/ABSTRACT?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-12-10 |url-access=subscription }} and {{cite journal |author1=Christian Homburg |author2=Nicole Koschate |author3=Wayne D. Hoyer |title=Do satisfied customers really pay more? A study of the relationship between customer satisfaction and willingness to pay |journal=Journal of Marketing |volume=69 |issue=2 |pages=84–96 |date=April 2005 |doi=10.1509/jmkg.69.2.84.60760 |s2cid=167912490 |url=https://ub-madoc.bib.uni-mannheim.de/42496/1/W079_Do%20Satisfied%20Costumers%20Really%20Pay%20More.pdf }}</ref> David Gill and Victoria Prowse have provided experimental evidence that people are disappointment averse when they compete.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://cess-wb.nuff.ox.ac.uk/documents/DP2011/CESS_DP2011_001.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111230210543/http://cess-wb.nuff.ox.ac.uk/documents/DP2011/CESS_DP2011_001.pdf |archive-date=December 30, 2011 |jstor=41408781|last1=Gill |first1=David |last2=Prowse |first2=Victoria |title=A Structural Analysis of Disappointment Aversion in a Real Effort Competition |journal=The American Economic Review |volume=102 |issue=1 |pages=469–503 |year=2012 |doi=10.1257/aer.102.1.469 |s2cid=7842439 }}</ref>

Disappointed individuals focus on "upward [[Counterfactual thinking|counterfactuals]]"—alternative outcomes that would have been better than the one actually experienced—to the point that even positive outcomes may result in disappointment.<ref>{{cite book |author=Schwartz, Alan |chapter=Expected feelings about risky options |editor=Moore, Simon |title=Emotional Cognition: From Brain to Behavior (Advances in Consciousness Research, 44) |url=https://archive.org/details/emotionalcogniti00moor |url-access=limited |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Co |year=2002 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/emotionalcogniti00moor/page/n189 183]–96 |isbn=978-1-58811-224-8 }}</ref> One example, supplied by Bell, concerns a [[lottery]] win of $10,000.00, an event which will theoretically be perceived more positively if that amount represents the highest possible win in the lottery than if it represents the lowest.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Bell, David E. |title=Disappointment in Decision Making under Uncertainty |journal=Operations Research |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=1–27 |date=Jan–Feb 1985 |doi=10.1287/opre.33.1.1 |jstor=170863}}</ref> Decision analysts operate on the assumption that individuals will anticipate the potential for disappointment and make decisions that are less likely to lead to the experience of this feeling.<ref name="INSEAD"/> Disappointment aversion has been posited as one explanation for the [[Allais paradox]], a problematic response in [[Expected utility hypothesis|expected utility theory]] wherein people prove more likely to choose a certain reward than to risk a greater reward while at the same time being willing to attempt a greater reward with lower [[probability]] when both options include some risk.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Jianmin Jia |author2=James S. Dyer |author3=John C. Butler |title=Generalized disappointment models |journal=Journal of Risk and Uncertainty |volume=59 |issue=1 |pages=59–78 |date=January 2001 }} and {{cite journal |author=Gul, Faruk |title=A Theory of Disappointment Aversion |jstor=2938223 |journal=Econometrica |volume=59 |issue=3 |pages=667–86 |date=May 1991 |doi=10.2307/2938223 }} For an alternate model of the Allais paradox, see [http://www.overcomingbias.com/2008/01/allais-paradox.html The Allais Paradox] at overcomingbias.com.</ref>

While earlier developers of disappointment theory focused on anticipated outcomes, more recent examinations by Philippe Delquié and Alessandra Cillo of [[INSEAD]] have focused on the impact of later disappointment resulting when an actual outcome comes to be regarded negatively based on further development; for example, if a person receives higher than expected [[Gain (finance)|gains]] in the [[stock market]], they may be [[Happiness|elated]] until they discover a week later that they could have gained much more [[Profit (accounting)|profit]] if they had waited a few more days to sell.<ref name="INSEAD"/> This experience of disappointment may influence subsequent behavior, and, the analysts state, an incorporation of such variables into disappointment theory may enhance the study of [[Behavioral economics|behavioral finance]].<ref name="INSEAD"/> Disappointment is, along with regret, measured by direct questioning of respondents.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Marcatto, Francesco  |author2=Donatella Ferrante |title=The Regret and Disappointment Scale: An instrument for assessing regret and disappointment in decision making |journal=Judgment and Decision Making |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=87–99 |date=January 2008 |doi=10.1017/S193029750000019X |s2cid=16164726 |url=http://journal.sjdm.org/bb8/bb8.html|doi-access=free }}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Anticipation]]
*[[Paris syndrome]]
*[[Disenchantment]]
*[[Scuderia Ferrari]]

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|2}}

== Further reading ==

* {{cite book | last = Craib  | first = Ian  | title = The Importance of Disappointment  | publisher = Routledge  | date = 22 Sep 1994  | page = 216 | isbn = 978-0-415-09383-5}}
* {{cite journal |author=Loomes, Graham |title=Further Evidence of the Impact of Regret and Disappointment in Choice under Uncertainty |journal=Economica |volume=55 |issue=217 |pages=47–62 |date=February 1988 |doi=10.2307/2554246 |jstor=2554246}}
* {{cite book | last = Mandel  | first = David R. |author2=Denis J. Hilton |author3=Patrizia Catellani |title = The Psychology of Counterfactual Thinking  | url = https://archive.org/details/psychologycounte00mand  | url-access = limited  | publisher = Routledge  | year = 2005  | page = [https://archive.org/details/psychologycounte00mand/page/n263 251] | isbn = 978-0-415-32241-6}}

== External links ==
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[[Category:Emotions]]
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