Losses Increase Stress More Than Gains Reduce It
Evidently, losing something is more distressing than gaining something is relieving. A recent study by researchers from Kent State University, Akron City Hospital, and Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine investigated the impact of resource losses and gains in pregnant women.
The study looked at gains and losses in terms of resources, which were defined as things that people value or that act as a way of obtaining what they value. The participants completed questionnaires during and after their pregnancy.
The main finding was that postpartum anger and depression appeared to be influenced more by resource losses than they were by resource gains.
Source: Wells, J. D., Hobfoll, S. E., & Lavin, J. (1999). When it rains, it pours: The greater impact of resource loss compared to gain on psychological distress. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25, 1172-1182.
