The Molecule of More

THE MOLECULE OF MORE

TO HAVE LOVED AND LOST HURTS MORE

In addition to tapping into primitive needs, another reason fear works
so well is loss aversion, meaning that the pain of loss is stronger than the
pleasure of gain. For example, the pain of losing $20 is greater than
the pleasure of winning $20. That’s why most people reject a 50/50
coin  toss  wager when the amount of money is  significant. In  fact, most 
people reject a  $30  payoff for  a  $20  bet.  The  payoff must be  double the 
wager, $40 in this case, before most people will agree to the bet.
A mathematician would say that when there is a 50/50 chance of
winning, and  the  payoff is  bigger than  the  bet,  the  gamble has  a net positive
value—you should go for it. (It’s important to note that this works only if
the  bet  is  affordable. It would be rational to  bet  $20  you’d spend going to
a movie, but not $200 you need to pay the rent.) Yet most people reject
the opportunity to win $30 on a $20 coin toss. Why would they do that?
When scientists performed brain scans during wagering experi-
ments, they  naturally looked at  dopamine first. They found that  neural 
activity in the desire circuit increased after wins and decreased after
losses—as would be expected. But the changes weren’t symmetrical.
The magnitude of the decrease after losses was larger than the increase
after gains. The dopamine circuit was mirroring the subjective experi-
ence. The effect of loss was greater than the effect of gain.
What neural pathways were behind this imbalance? What was
amplifying the loss reaction? The researchers turned their attention to
the amygdala—an H&N structure that processes fear and other nega-
tive  emotions. Every time a  participant lost  a  bet,  their amygdala fired 
up, intensifying feelings of distress. It was H&N emotion that was driv-
ing loss aversion. The H&N system doesn’t care about the future. It
doesn’t care about things we might get. It cares about what we have
right now. And when those things are threatened, out comes the expe-
rience of fear and distress.
Other studies found similar results. In one experiment, participants
were randomly assigned to  receive a  coffee mug. Half the  group got  one, 
and half didn’t. Immediately after handing out the mugs, the research-
ers gave the participants an opportunity to trade among themselves: