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In studies it seems to take about 5 positive experiences to undo the mental impact of 1 negative experience. [1]

So yes - generally these are not considered equal. From almost every perspective, this also makes sense - trading 1 for 1 doesn't lead to you improving your situation.

[1] https://www.seekingbalance.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/06...

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The claim here is even stronger, and somewhat different: that suffering and reward are fundamentally different kind of things, and cannot simply undo each other, not at any exchange rate. The difference is qualitative, not quantitative. For example, if you lose your eyesight, it's such a big loss, that most likely nothing can balance it out ever. It has no "five times as good" equivalent.

This is exactly what I meant. Thank you for providing a much more accurate and elegant description.

High cost of suffering (e.g. being ran over by a car when street crossed on red light) and relatively small reward for corresponding success (meh, just crossed the street in the example) might explain it.

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