Research has shown that hedonic-contrast effects are a ubiquitous and important phenomenon. In eight studies (N = 4,999) and four supplemental studies (N = 1,809), we found that hedonic-contrast effects were stronger for negative outcomes than for positive outcomes. This asymmetric-contrast effect held for both anticipated and experienced affect. The effect makes risks that include gains and losses more attractive in the presence of high reference points because contrast diminishes the hedonic impact of losses more than gains. We demonstrated that the effect occurs because people are generally more attentive to reference points when evaluating negative outcomes, so drawing attention to reference points eliminates the asymmetric-contrast effect.

研究表明，享乐对比效应是一种普遍而重要的现象。在八项研究 ( N = 4,999) 和四项补充研究 ( N = 1,809) 中，我们发现负面结果的享乐对比效应比正面结果更强。这种不对称对比效应适用于预期的和体验到的情感。这种效应使得包括收益和损失在内的风险在高参考点的存在下更具吸引力，因为对比减少损失的享乐影响比收益更大。我们证明了这种效应的发生是因为人们在评估负面结果时通常更关注参考点，因此将注意力吸引到参考点可以消除不对称对比效应。