I’ve been thinking about this question.

You know how from Prospect Theory, we learned that bad experiences are worse than good experiences are great? (I.e., people hate loses more than they love wins… if I lose $100 from my wallet, I will be twice as unhappy as I would be happy if I found $100 on the street). So, when a person has those terrible experiences, then why might a person still re-frame the entire situation in hindsight as having been ana amazing experience?

Is it because he’s pushing himself at the edge - and getting to flow? I.e., is it that a person may need that challenge of becoming almost bare and vulnerable to feel that he got past that?

Is it because at some point the situation becomes so ludicrous that the person might just bunch all the bad experiences into one nuisance in his head - and then get over that nuisance? I wonder whether the ides of over-compensating in one’s head (that I think Jon Haidt once told us about) holds true - for example, that couples will forgive each other for infidelity more than they will forgive each other for leaving the toothpaste cap open. I think the idea was that people create even stronger defense mechanisms against really bad events, and that people’s psyches do not create such forceful defense mechanisms against small events.

Thoughts?

If Prospect Theory is true and people hate loses about twice as strongly as they love gains, then why can people often ignore the very, very bad things and still remember an event as good?

Thanks!
S.

Thank you so much for the article. It couldn’t have come at a better time for me. Not only am I enrolled in MAPP for fall 2007, but I also had to quit my job in order to pursue this degree (my employers weren’t comfortable with me doing both simultaneously). I am in the midst of creating an employment situation that will take care of myself and my three kids at the same time as I’m taking the leap into grad school. Yikes! Adventure — here I come! A quote that has become a standby for me is “Live life to tears.” (Camus) Thanks for the reminder that it’s all worth it…

Kirsten