Did you know if given an equal amount of positive information, neutral information, and negative information, your mind will give greater value to the negative? That’s the negativity bias, or negativity effect. Studies show that our minds emphasize negativity and amplify it over positive or neutral information. Essentially, negativity carries more weight than positivity.
You may have noticed that you can easily recall criticisms you’ve been given easier than compliments. Or, when recollecting the week’s events your first thoughts are to the negative issues that came up rather than the positive ones. That’s negative bias. The tendency to put a first or greater emphasis on the negative.
There’s Psychology Behind Negativity Bias
The psychology behind negativity bias is quite interesting. It turns out our brains have a stronger reaction to negative stimuli which can lead to storing negative memories faster and easier than positive ones. Humans also have a tendency to ruminate and dwell on things, rolling events over and over in our minds. This amplifies the negative and can exaggerate it and intensify the memories.
Culture can also influence the negative bias. News stories tend to focus on tragedies, problems, and trouble, only occasionally highlighting a feel-good story now and then. Thanks to the world wide web, we are also more likely to see vast amounts of negative information that once was unavailable and off our radar. Additionally, it has become entertainment to consume media with negative-based content.
Can Negativity Bias be Interrupted?
The reasons negativity is amplified include the frequency and intensity of the negativity you’re exposed to. You can control much of the negativity that crosses your path. You can’t stop every negative thing from happening, but you can reduce unnecessary negativity. Here’s how-
Direct your attention towards positive things- You can easily decrease the doses of negativity you experience in a day. Choosing positive music, podcasts, and media outlets can help you outweigh negativity with optimism. Avoid consuming content that aggravates, causes fear, or incites negativity.
Challenge negativity- Blindly adopting a negative viewpoint isn’t healthy. Challenge negativities. Stand up for truth and question whether or not negative information is accurate. You don’t have to believe everything you hear. It’s good to use your discernment to make informed decisions about what is positive and what is negative.
Go on a negativity fast- Make the decision to refuse to be negative for fourteen (or more) days. Surround yourself with positive media, entertainment and people. Control your thinking and learn to command your mind to be positive and reduce the negative clutter living rent free in your head.
The negativity bias states that we emphasize the negative information we receive throughout the day. Through self-awareness of this bias, we can overcome it by being purposeful to negate or redirect our negative thoughts.
