Gain seeking (the opposite of loss aversion) in the stock market
Moreover, whereas real-world phenomena exist that appear consistent with loss aversion, as pointed out by Ert and Erev (2013), other phenomena occur that appear consistent with the opposite, namely gain seeking. For example, Barber and Odean (1999) identified the phenomenon of overtrading in the stock market, whereby investors trade more than would be justified by rationality assumptions. To the extent that maintaining the status quo is thought to represent loss aversion, this excess trading (i.e., changing of the status quo) could be interpreted to support gainseeking behavior. Further, individual investors exhibit insufficient diversification among assets (Barber & Odean, 2000). To the extent that diversification reduces risk, this behavior can also be interpreted as gain seeking.
Gain seeking (the opposite of loss aversion) in the stock market