Figure 4.

Mediation analysis. A, The three variables assessed using mediation analysis: behavioral loss aversion λ, difference in neural sensitivity between losses and gains S_loss − S_gain, and difference in performance between losses and gains, P_loss^$100 − P_gain^$100 (at the $100 incentive level). The numbers next to the double-headed arrows are coefficients of correlations between the variables. Regression analyses (illustrated in Figs. 2B, 3D) established correlations between participants' behavioral loss aversion, differences in performance, and neural sensitivity for potential losses and gains. B, Model 1 illustrates the mediation analysis, and Model 2 illustrates the reverse mediation analysis used to rule out model misspecification. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.005.