I am heavily motivated by the fear of loss. The only times I am motivated by the hope of gain is if the rewards are big and/or immediate. I think the root of many conflicts that I have with people (especially my parents) is because most of the people I know are motivated by the hope of gain, regardless of the reward or circumstance.
The fear of loss is much more realistic to me. I have lost more in my life than gained, and when I gained it was small. Some of my best performances came out of times when I was threatened to lose something, like my job or flunking a class.
I am interested in how this splits on SDMB and why you all feel that way.
Having a wife and mortgage and going through unemployment will definitely kick that “fear of loss” thing into gear.
But, your question is too abstract. IMHO.
“Hope of gain” might drive my investments, while “fear of loss” might determine my driving habits.
Career-wise, I’ve definitely gone a more conservative route, settling on something stable, although my last job (at a small start-up company) was definitely mostly based on hope of gain.
Still, for most of my daily decisions, neither concept comes into play too much.
Both of them are strong motivators. I would guess that most of my life I was motivated by hope of gain more than fear of loss. I have taken plenty of risks for hope of gain.
More by fear than hope, I think. I’ve watched most of my peer group spend themselves into bankruptcy while enjoying a more material-driven lifestyle than I’m comfortable with. I’m always thinking of the ‘what-if’ factor and protecting against it.
For example, I’m going to school hoping to gain better job security but that’s motivated by the fear of losing my job and the what-if I find myself back on the market. I bought a less-expensive home in case the real estate market tanked, etc.
I’m not conservative in any other aspect of life except financial though, huh.
I’ve been reading articles on how people decide how to save and invest money, and they say that generally people are more motivated by a fear of a loss than a hope of a gain. As a result, people are more conservative investors than they ought to be (given the time span until retirement and the inflation losses). I don’t have a specific cite, though.
Hope of gain. Fear of loss seems so. . .I don’t want to say backwards, but too much hindsight involved, for my tastes. I like to make goals and move forward.
Take it with some salt, though. I’m 24, with no kids or mortgage. I imagine those and other things could change one’s perspective wildly.
