Is the pain of a loss greater in magnitude than the pleasure of a comparable gain? Studies that compare positive feelings about a gain with negative feelings about a comparable loss have found mixed answers to this question. The pain of a loss can be greater than, less than, or equal to the pleasure of a comparable gain. We offer a new approach to test hedonic loss aversion. This method uses emotional reactions to the reference point, a positive change, and a negative change. When we manipulated the reference point (i.e., pleasurable and painful), two distinct patterns emerged. Pain surpassed pleasure (loss aversion) when the reference point was positive, and pleasure exceeded pain (gain seeking) when the reference point was negative. A reference-dependent version of prospect theory accounts for the results. If the carriers of utility are changes from a reference point—not necessarily the status quo—both loss aversion and gain seeking are predicted. Loss aversion and gain seeking can be reconciled if you take the starting point into account.

损失的痛苦是否比可比的收益所带来的痛苦更大？研究比较了对收益的积极感觉与对可比较的损失的消极感觉，发现该问题的答案不一。损失的痛苦可能大于，小于或等于可比收益的乐趣。我们提供了一种测试享乐损失厌恶的新方法。此方法使用对参考点的情绪反应，正向变化和负向变化。当我们操纵参考点时（即愉悦和痛苦），出现了两种不同的模式。当参考点为正时，疼痛超过快感（损失厌恶），而当参考点为负时，疼痛超过痛苦（寻求增益）。前景理论的参考依赖版本说明了结果。如果效用的载体是从参考点改变的（不一定是现状），则可以预测损失厌恶和寻求收益。如果考虑起点，则可以调和损失规避和寻求收益。