Embodied Loss and the Psychophysiological Effects of Pain Examined With Traditional and New Behavioral Measures

Based on a robust decision phenomenon of loss aversion, people are distinctly more sensitive to losses than to gains. The psychological pain experienced due to a loss is greater than the pleasure experienced due to a gain of the same amount. We argue that physical pain can be viewed as a psychological loss with diminishing sensitivity. Pain thus would be preferred summed rather than distributed. The results from 89 student-participants recruited from a public university in the Midwest US revealed that chronic pain is correlated with reduced subjective life expectancy and increased impulsivity. We found a significant propensity to prefer sharp-and-shorter pain to milder-and-longer pain. The loss-aversion score predicted this propensity in pain management. We developed a new behavioral measure of Band-Aid removal as a predictor for pain duration-intensity tradeoff. The higher the Band-Aid removal time, the higher the preference for higher-duration and lower intensity, and the lower willingness to seek medical attention for pain. The participants also revealed a higher willingness to seek medical help for generalized pain than localized pain to reduce information ambiguity.

Bankruptcy Regulation and Self-Employment Entry: The Moderating Roles of Income Share, Parenthood, and Hybrid Entrepreneurship

We investigate how individual factors moderate the impact of bankruptcy exemption levels—that is, the amount of wealth individuals can keep in case of bankruptcy—on entry into self-employment. Conceptually, we combine Prospect Theory’s axiom of diminishing sensitivity with insights from research on entrepreneurial failure. We hypothesize that individuals who face higher financial, social, or psychological costs because of bankruptcy will be less sensitive to higher exemption levels than will those who face lower costs across these dimensions. Our empirical results, which are based on a quasi-natural experiment in the United States, support our theoretical predictions.

LOSS AVERSION IS CONSISTENT WITH STOCK MARKET BEHAVIOR

The purpose of this paper is to verify that discrete statistical distributions of the US stock market are consistent with loss aversion. Loss aversion has the following tenets: an S-shaped valuation function, characterized by diminishing sensitivity, a loss aversion coefficient higher than +1, probability weighting, and reference-dependence. Diminishing sensitivity implies that the exponent of the valuation function is between 0 and +1. It is expected that this exponent be higher for losses. Probability weighting replaces objective with subjective probabilities. Loss aversion is indicated by a coefficient higher than +1 for the valuation of losses. There are three parameters: the two exponents of the valuation function, and the loss aversion coefficient. There is one non-linear equation: the certainty equivalence relation. The procedure is to fix two parameters and find the third parameter by solving the non-linear certainty equivalence equation, using the EXCEL spreadsheet. The program is repeated for more than one case about the fixed parameters, and by enriching the analysis with probability weighting. The calibrations executed point strongly to the conclusion that loss aversion is consistent with six discrete distributions of the first two moments of returns of the US stock markets. The calibration process provides for reasonable estimates of the key parameters of loss aversion. These estimates suggest a more pronounced diminishing sensitivity, and a higher than expected coefficient of loss aversion, especially when probability weighting is imposed.

People Reject Algorithms in Uncertain Decision Domains Because They Have Diminishing Sensitivity to Forecasting Error

Will people use self-driving cars, virtual doctors, and other algorithmic decision-makers if they outperform humans? The answer depends on the uncertainty inherent in the decision domain. We propose that people have diminishing sensitivity to forecasting error and that this preference results in people favoring riskier (and often worse-performing) decision-making methods, such as human judgment, in inherently uncertain domains. In nine studies ( N = 4,820), we found that (a) people have diminishing sensitivity to each marginal unit of error that a forecast produces, (b) people are less likely to use the best possible algorithm in decision domains that are more unpredictable, (c) people choose between decision-making methods on the basis of the perceived likelihood of those methods producing a near-perfect answer, and (d) people prefer methods that exhibit higher variance in performance (all else being equal). To the extent that investing, medical decision-making, and other domains are inherently uncertain, people may be unwilling to use even the best possible algorithm in those domains.

Asymmetric influence of corruption distance on FDI

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to measure the influence of corruption distance (CD) on foreign direct investment (FDI) with the characteristics of the value function from the Prospect Theory (PT) such as loss aversion and diminishing sensitivity. Design/methodology/approach Data are derived from Transparency International and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and tested on the countries China, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Russia, Spain and the UK and are analysed with a natural log (LN) regression model. Findings The findings indicate a negative asymmetric relationship for China, Germany, Korea, Spain and Russia. This means that negative performance on CD will not have greater impact on FDI outflows than positive performance on CD in the same country. Loss aversion, as well as diminishing sensitivity, as suggested by the PT, cannot be supported with the empirical results. Originality/value Its originality lies in contributing and extending knowledge on CD on FDI in several ways. First, it analyses the data of emerging and industrialized countries, namely, Russia, China, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Spain and the UK. Second, a potential asymmetric impact is explained by the characteristics of the hypothetical value function of the PT. Third, it seeks empirical evidence by applying an econometric model developed to analyse the variables CD and FDI.

Happiness as a Reward for Torture: Is Participation in a Long-Distance Triathlon a Rational Choice?

This study applies prospect theory to an assessment of actual behavior. Loss aversion, reference dependence, and diminishing sensitivity are conceptualized through survey respondents’ perceptions of physical and mental torture during training for and competition in long-distance triathlons. Regression results show that frequent thoughts of giving up during the race negatively affect happiness after the race, while mental torture during training and race is negatively associated with happiness in the weeks after the race. Satisfaction with race outcome positively affects happiness, suggesting that achieving individual goals is more important than absolute performance in terms of finishing times and ranks.