Losses tend to hurt more than gains for several reasons:
- Prospect theory: According to this theory, people experience a greater emotional impact from losing something than they do from gaining something of equal value. This is known as the “loss aversion” bias, which causes people to feel more pain from a loss than pleasure from an equivalent gain.
- Anchoring effect: People tend to anchor their expectations to a certain point, and when the outcome is worse than expected, the pain of the loss is greater.
- Regret: People may experience regret when they realize that they could have made a better decision or taken a different action, which can amplify the emotional impact of a loss.
- Self-esteem: Losing can make people feel like they are not good enough, which can affect their self-esteem and self-worth.
- Social comparison: People often compare themselves to others and when they lose, they feel like they are not as good as others, which can be a painful experience.
It’s important to note that these are some of the reasons why losses hurt more than gains, but it may not apply to all individuals, as people have different levels of emotional intensity, and what affects one person may not affect another. Additionally, traders can work on developing a more realistic attitude towards risk and to focus on their overall performance rather than individual trades.