Overview
- Researchers report that anticipating a loss carries more than six times the emotional impact of anticipating an equivalent gain.
- The findings draw on British Household Panel Survey data from nearly 14,000 UK adults tracked from 1991 to 2024, connecting expected financial outcomes to real choices in investing, jobs, and health.
- People who felt stronger negative anticipation were more likely to avoid risk and less willing to wait for delayed payoffs, indicating a preference for faster outcome resolution.
- Once outcomes occurred, losses still weighed roughly twice as much as gains, consistent with established loss aversion.
- The peer-reviewed study by teams at the Universities of Bath and Waterloo, published in Cognitive Science, highlights implications for policy and practice such as reducing waits or uncertainty to encourage screening and long-term investing.