Research shows that significant well-being disparities emerge between individuals who experience major negative events and those who undergo major positive events. However, such differences may vary among individuals. Drawing from the theory of the need for cognitive closure (NFC), we theorize and test whether NFC, which captures seizing and freezing on salient information to reach a fast conclusion, intensifies the differences in affective well-being between those who experience negative or positive events. Across three studies (total N = 2,399), we provide converging evidence that supports our theoretical claim. We first found that participants with high (vs. low) NFC show a greater affective well-being gap between those who recalled their past negative and positive major events (Study 1). We also discovered consistent patterns when participants were provided with negative or positive major event scenarios (Study 2). Lastly, we further substantiated our findings by utilizing a longitudinal study of the 20th presidential election in South Korea (Study 3). Over a 6-week period, the well-being gaps between the supporters of the election winner and the runner-up were more pronounced among individuals with higher NFC. Overall, our findings have implications for identifying a novel psychological trait that influences the affective well-being gaps following significant events in one’s life.

研究表明，经历重大负面事件的人和经历重大正面事件的人之间存在显着的幸福差异。然而，这种差异可能因人而异。我们借鉴认知封闭需求 (NFC) 理论，对 NFC 进行理论分析并测试，NFC 捕捉并冻结显着信息以快速得出结论，是否会加剧经历消极或积极体验的人之间情感幸福感的差异事件。通过三项研究（总计N  = 2,399），我们提供了支持我们理论主张的一致证据。我们首先发现，NFC 较高（与较低）的参与者在回忆过去的消极和积极重大事件的参与者之间表现出更大的情感幸福感差距（研究 1）。当向参与者提供消极或积极的重大事件情景时，我们还发现了一致的模式（研究 2）。最后，我们利用对韩国第 20 届总统选举的纵向研究（研究 3）进一步证实了我们的发现。在 6 周的时间里，选举获胜者和亚军的支持者之间的幸福感差距在 NFC 较高的个人中更为明显。总的来说，我们的研究结果对于识别一种新的心理特征具有重要意义，这种特征会影响一个人生活中重大事件后的情感幸福差距。