How people respond to positive and negative events is a basic question in psychology. Most theoretical accounts assume that the detrimental impact of negative life events is cumulative, resulting in a “more is more” effect. A similar assumption of “more is more” is typically used to predict the influence of multiple positive life events, people’s reactions to evaluative stimuli (e.g., an audience), and their judgments of consumer goods. In this article, we present a model that suggests that these conclusions do not capture the full picture of how people respond to multiple positive or negative events. More specifically, the averaging/summation (A/S) model does not predict that the underpinnings of individuals’ responses to positive or negative events always reflect summative affective impact. Rather, individuals’ responses often reflect the average value of events, as well as their summative value. We review research supporting the model’s predictions and discuss alternative theories and interpretations, such as the conservation of resource model, the peak–end rule, mental accounting, distraction, and assimilation/contrast. In addition, we suggest new avenues for research.

中文翻译：

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对多个事件的平均和累加影响的敏感性：“多是多”和“多是少”

人们如何应对正面和负面事件是心理学中的一个基本问题。大多数理论认为，负面生活事件的有害影响是累积性的，导致“更多就是更多”的影响。类似的假设“越多越多”通常用于预测多重积极生活事件，人们对评估刺激（例如，听众）的反应以及他们对消费品的判断的影响。在本文中，我们提出了一个模型，该模型表明这些结论并未全面反映人们对多种正面或负面事件的反应。更具体地说，平均/总和（A / S）模型无法预测个人对积极或消极事件做出反应的基础总是反映出累加的情感影响。而是 个人的反应通常反映事件的平均值以及它们的累加值。我们回顾了支持模型预测的研究，并讨论了其他理论和解释，例如资源模型的保存，峰尾法则，心理核算，注意力分散和同化/对比。此外，我们建议研究的新途径。