Chapter 14. Giving up something? Get over it!
We hate to lose things. That’s just human nature. Since the time we lost our first tooth, family pet, or game of baseball, we realized that losing hurts. We don’t like to give up our money or our things. Is it any wonder companies end up overpaying for acquisitions? We hate to lose. And this aversion to loss affects our decisions in specific ways.
First, the loss aversion means that we value what we have to give up more than what we might gain—even if it is the same object or something as meaningless as a porcelain mug. In one study, half the subjects were given a mug and asked to sell it to the other half of the subjects. This was not a family heirloom, but just an ordinary mug they had acquired that ...
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