What Distinguishes Promotion and Prevention? Attaining “+1” from “0” as Non-Gain Versus Maintaining “0” as Non-Loss

Abstract

This paper reviews the history of the distinctions that have been made, and the differences discovered, between promotion and prevention self-regulation. These include, respectively: (1) Nurturance versus security; (2) ideal (hopes) versus ought (duties) self-guides; (3) presence and absence of positive outcomes versus absence and presence of negative outcomes; (4) approaching matches to a desired end-state versus avoiding mismatches to a desired end-state; (5) eager for “hits” versus vigilant against “errors of commission”; (6) speed versus accuracy; (7) global/abstract versus local/ concrete; and (8) intuitions versus reasons. A fundamental, “story of 0”, distinction between promotion and prevention self-regulation is then discussed: attaining “+1” from “0” versus maintaining “0” against “-1”, where “0” is a nongain in the former and a non-loss in the latter. The paper then shows how each of the earlier distinctions and differences between promotion and prevention can be understood in terms of this fundamental distinction