The Loss of Loss Aversion: Paying Attention to Reference Points

We agree with Gal and Rucker ( 2018 , in press) that loss aversion is not as firmly established as typically assumed. We affirm, however, the more general principle put forward within Prospect Theory (D. Kahneman & A. Tversky, 1979), which is that reference points increase people's sensitivity to objective changes in value. We show how the literatures on counterfactual thought, social comparison, and goal pursuit are consistent with the notion that reference points increase sensitivity to change in value, while not being consistent with loss aversion. We then examine, within the framework of Regulatory Focus theory (E. T. Higgins, 1997, 1998), how different reference points combine with characteristics of the actor and the situation to give rise to loss aversion (more sensitivity to negative outcomes than to positive outcomes) as well as to the reverse pattern (more sensitivity to positive outcomes than to negative outcomes). Our review suggests that the status quo, even when used as a reference point, is not necessarily neutral. It also suggests that anchor points other than the status quo may serve as reference points and that people may use more than one reference point simultaneously. More generally, we call for a critical examination of the “bad is stronger than good” principle.     

Loss of Cells—Loss of Self: Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration and Human Emotion

ABSTRACT— Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) is a devastating disease that profoundly changes emotion, self, and personality while initially sparing many aspects of cognitive functioning. This article reviews research that applies methods from basic affective science to obtain a more precise view of FTLD's impact on emotional functioning. This research indicates that simple forms of emotional reactivity are relatively preserved in the early stages of the disease. In contrast, more complex emotional processes, such as those involved with self-conscious emotions (e.g., embarrassment), emotion regulation, and recognizing emotions in others, are severely impaired. FTLD provides rich opportunities for increasing our understanding of the nature of emotion and of the emotional and social brain.     

Toward a Psychology of Loss

This article argues for the development of an interdisciplinary psychology of loss that is focused on people's pervading commonsense experience and recognition of loss in their own and others' lives. This field may be defined as broader than related fields such as traumatology, thanatology, and stress and coping. The psychology of loss focuses on the perception of major loss deriving from events such as death and divorce, but also on the perception of major loss in connection with such diverse phenomenna as loss of employment, los of bodily functioning, and being the target of violence or prejudice, including genocide. An important research topic for this field concerns people's stories of how major losses are interrelated in their lives. It is argued that perceived loss is a critical phenomenal state that must be dealt with in adaptation to most significant stressors.     

损失规避的产生根源

损失规避是指由损失引发的负效用大于由等量收益引发的正效用的现象, 其产生根源能够从神经经济学和进化心理学两个方向进行解释。损失规避的脑机制分为两个系统：主观价值评价系统主要包括纹状体和前额皮层, 与主观价值的评估有关; 情绪唤醒系统主要包括杏仁核和脑岛, 与厌恶等消极情绪有关。在进化心理学的视角下, 通过回顾有关动物决策行为的研究来探索损失规避行为的进化历史, 并结合相关进化理论总结该行为产生的进化原因。未来可探索与行为损失规避相关的神经递质, 进一步研究损失规避的产生根源。     

A Review of Loss,Trauma and Resilience: Therapeutic Work With Ambiguous Loss

Book reviewed in this article: Pauline Boss (2006). Loss, Trauma, and Resilience: Therapeutic Work With Ambiguous Loss.     

Pet Loss and Human Emotion: Romanian Students' Reflections on Pet Loss

Thirty-five graduate and undergraduate students, owners of dogs and cats, were asked to respond in writing to a several questions regarding their relationship with their pet. In this retrospective analysis, we discuss aspects that describe the pet-owner relationship, including attachment and the role played by the pet in the owner's life (e.g., emotional support, the pet being seen as a family member). Most of the participants felt that their pet's loss caused great pain; some considered that even if they had suffered greatly, the death of their pet was not felt more intensely and severely than the death of any other family member or a friend.     

Vague Expectation Value Loss

Vague subjective probability may be modeled by means of a set of probability functions, so that the represented opinion has only a lower and upper bound. The standard rule of conditionalization can be straightforwardly adapted to this. But this combination has difficulties which, though well known in the technical literature, have not been given sufficient attention in probabilist or Bayesian epistemology. Specifically, updating on apparently irrelevant bits of news can be destructive of one’s explicitly prior expectations. Stability of vague subjective opinion appears to need a more complex model.     

Counseling for Personal Loss

This article presents both a conceptual model of and strategies for counseling on issues of personal loss. Grieving occurs even when losses are not caused by death, and problems appear when grieving is not allowed to proceed naturally. Counseling should aim to identify the need for and to facilitate the process of grieving so that clients are not overwhelmed by the experience. Specific suggestions offer conceptualizations and clinical approaches to help clients cope with a variety of loss problems.     

Dealing with Object Loss

The nature and outcome of working through an object loss depend on the proportions in which the lost relationship involved developmentally earlier (prestructural) and more advanced (poststructural), aspects. The two groups of elements are dealt with by entirely different methods, which are presented and discussed in this paper. For this purpose, some aspects of internalization are discussed and distinguishing a new form of internalization is proposed. The additional loss of objects following a major one are also briefly discussed.     

Loss and human resilience

In this article we argue that humans are more resilient in the face of loss than has been previously believed. We begin by showing that historically the bereavement literature has tended to pathologize what are otherwise normal and natural reactions to loss. We then introduce a characterization of resilience during bereavement as the ability to maintain continuity in identity from pre- to postloss. We review various types of evidence consistent with this proposal, with a particular emphasis on the relationship between resilience and continuity in social identity. We then explore four possible mechanisms by which resilient individuals achieve identity continuity. We also attempt to extend the resilience-as-continuity link to the recent literature on continued bonds with the deceased and explore how this link manifests across different cultures. Finally, we review some implications of these formulations for psychotherapy with bereaved individuals.     

Loss and the Organization of Affect

The present studies evaluated the association between positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) following romantic relationship loss experiences, as well as following less stressful romantic relationship situations, given theoretical evidence that the structure of affect may differ following a relationship loss. Across two studies, evidence suggested that the association between NA and PA was more strongly inverse following romantic relationship loss experiences when compared to less stressful relationship experiences. Such findings provide important implications for the study of romantic relationship loss, as well as the treatment of psychopathology following romantic relationship loss.     

刍议医德迷失与重塑

在我国的医疗行政界、医务界、医学教育界以及临床医者中出现了医德迷失现象.社会发展模式,道德激励游戏化,败德激励机制的精细化,个人生存压力,专业知识垄断等原因共同导致医德迷失.医德境界的提升应从教育做起,完善政策引导机制、社会监督评价机制,做好医务人员的岗前培训,提倡医者的自我修养.     

Loss Experiences In Disability Sport

Abstract

Sport scientists have started to amass a small body of knowledge on loss in sport. Viewing sport retirement from a loss framework is particularly appropriate when examining transitions out of disability sport because athletes with disabilities are at risk for facing unique losses when they lease sport (Martin, 1996; Wheeler, Malone, & Steadward, 1996). The purpose of this article is to discuss loss experiences in disability sport from psychological, social, and physiological perspectives.