I like to get nothing: implicit and explicit evaluation of avoided negative outcomes

This study examined affective consequences of an active avoidance response. Catching a fleeting stimulus with a rapid key press secured a monetary reward in a reward condition or avoided a monetary loss in an avoidance condition. Outcomes of wins, missed wins, losses, and avoided losses were signaled with color patches that were evaluated explicitly (via evaluative rating) and implicitly (via an affective priming task). Liking scores in each condition were compared with those in yoked-control conditions in which wins and avoided losses were presented without the requirement of an active response. In the explicit measure, colors associated with an avoided loss were rated positively and colors associated with a missed win were judged negatively, irrespective of whether the outcome was self-generated. In the implicit measure, outcomes of missed wins and avoided losses were evaluated differently only when they were self-generated. The results confirm a qualitative affective equivalence between an avoided loss and an achieved win. Implications for avoidance theories are discussed.