How Outcome Framing and Feedback Influence Decision Patterns over Time

While loss aversion is a well-established phenomenon, less is known about how repeated feedback in gain or loss contexts changes effortful decisions over time. We hypothesized that repeated loss framing may reduce the willingness to take risks to avoid losses. To test this hypothesis, participants completed 108 trials in which they chose between performing an easy or a difficult task. The task was to stop a stopwatch as close as possible to three seconds. The hard task demanded greater precision and had a lower probability of success compared to the easy task. After each trial, participants received feedback on their performance and points, and at the end of the experiment, they rated their frustration level. Half the participants were randomly assigned to a gain condition while the remaining were assigned to a loss condition. In the gain condition, participants started with zero points and earned points after each trial. In the loss condition, participants began with a set number of points and lost points after each trial. Results showed that participants in the loss condition initially chose the hard task more frequently than those in the gain condition but gradually shifted toward the easy task over time. Participants in the loss condition also reported higher frustration levels at the end of the experiment. These findings suggest that framing and feedback-based learning may jointly shape how people balance effort, risk, and affect across repeated decisions.