The screen did not change. You did.
A loss stings about 2.25 times as hard as the same size gain feels good. Stack that on a screen you open all day and you feel red you would never have noticed.
| How often you look |
Times you see red |
In plain odds |
| Every day | 48 | 1 in 2 |
| Every month | 41 | 2 in 5 |
| Every year | 22 | 1 in 4 |
Same portfolio in every row. The red only shrinks because you looked less. Two researchers put a name on it, myopic loss aversion. In one clean test people shown one year of returns put 40 of every 100 rupees in stocks. Shown thirty years, 90. The asset never changed. Only how often they looked.