Negativity Bias

Negativity Bias

Time for Reflection

What stands out in our mind about

• an argument we had with with your friend, spouse, partner on some serious matter
• a feedback we received from your boss/ superior about you about your performance
• audience's reaction to a presentation/ speech/ talk we delivered
• the advice you received from your parents, and elders/ seniors when you messed up an important task
• a commitment broken by a person you trusted a lot 
• a partnership that ended not quite "amicably"

The answer is - some "unpleasant thought/ memory" related to the episode is what tends to occupy our mind space.  It isn't the case that there are no pleasant or happy memories associated with any of the above episodes; it's just that the "unpleasant or unhappy" memories seem to get recalled faster in our memory than the "pleasant or happy" memories. What's getting exhibited here is a case of  "Negativity Bias". 

Definition and Background

Negativity Bias is defined as "the tendency of the negative things to stick longer in memory than the positive things". In other words, it refers to the notion that even when of equal intensity, things (thoughts, emotions, events, etc.) of a negative nature have a greater effect on us (our behavior and cognition) than the ones that are neutral or positive in nature. So, basically, it means "bad stuff sticks to our memory better than the good stuff".

There has been a lot of research on Negativity Bias. John Cacioppo at the University of Chicago, conducted study on negativity bias and in one such study he recorded the electrical activity in the brain (cerebral cortex) when the subjects(participants) were presented with both, positive and negative stimuli. His study showed that there was a greater surge in electrical neural activity when the stimuli presented was negative as compared to when the stimuli presented was positive. The study concluded that our personality (behavior and attitude) is influenced more with bad news than good news or neutral news.

Findings of Vaish et al. suggested that infants displayed a strong negativity bias in social referencing behavior.

In 2001, researchers Paul Rozin and Edward Royzman identified 4 types of negativity biases which are - 1. Negative Potency, 2. Negative Gradients, 3. Negative Dominance, and 4. Negative Differentiation

Why/ How does Negativity Bias occur ?

By default, our brain is accustomed to pay more attention to negative events in our environment,  which, in some way, pose danger or harm to us.

The Negative Bias has its roots in human evolution, when our ancestors used it as a survival technique. While going hunting for food, humans were attuned to "flight-or-fight" mode, an outcome  of their anticipation of a looming danger. So, it was this "danger anticipation" approach that kept the men on their toes always, prepared to face any eventuality. 

Rick Hanson, a renowned psychologist who has studied/ researched Negativity Bias shares an interesting insight about Amygdala, a part of the brain responsible for processing of emotions, uses about two-third of its neurons looking for the negative stuff and when found, it stores them the related negative experiences and event very quickly in the memory. This is in direct contrast to encountering of positive things/ news by Amygdala, where it takes about a 12-15 seconds to shift the related experience and events from the short term memory to long term memory.

More About Negativity Bias

Negativity Bias served an important evolutionary purpose by aiding our ancestors in their survival bid and because of this bias we are out of harm whenever confronted with something negative. Our brain has developed certain systems that makes it impossible for us to not notice any danger and respond to it. We tend to give more weightage to negative/ bad experience than positive/ good one.

Our brain is built with greater sensitivity to unpleasant news and this could be gauged from the greater surge in electrical activity in our brain whenever it encounters a negative stimuli. Our brain, subconsciously, places more significance on negative events than the positive ones, affecting

cognition and behavior.

Researchers assert that negative emotions has a 3X (three times) stronger impact than the positive ones. Some contend its 5X (five times). So, to negate the impact of any negative/ bad act, we need to counter it with three positive/ good acts.

A clear indication of the existence of Negativity Bias is visible  through our brain activity, where more electrical activity shows up in brain scans in response to negative stimuli that a positive stimuli.

Another interesting thing to note about the role that amygdala plays in negativity bias is that negative information is sent directly to LTM (Long Term Memory) to invoke the "flight or fight" response, whereas positive information takes longer to reach LTM as the information passes through STM(Short Term Memory) also before being sent further to LTM.

Impact of Negativity Bias

Negativity Bias impacts us not only at an individual personality level but also in our relationships at both, personal and professional front. It affects our our attention and memory which ultimately impacts our behaviour, attitude and emotional self.

Negativity bias renders a person worried, anxious, stressed and depressed. The person tends to develop a pessimistic outlook towards life and is always absorbed in anticipating problems. The bias affects affects the performance as most of the energy and effort is spent in thwarting seen and unseen obstacles. The person may not be able to identify even easy and obvious opportunities because of the focus on the negative/ bad and may get stagnant, unable to realise goals and move ahead in life. The bias could lead a person to a state of becoming obsessive with something really negative. 

Negativity Bias can adversely affect a person's self-esteem and confidence 

But there's a flip side (positive side) to negativity bias and that is - it keeps us alert and focused always. It makes us cautious and leaves us well prepared for the imminent danger. This bias acts as a saviour in matters of extreme danger (especially when it's a matter of life and death or something as serious). The presence of this bias may also provide us with better insight and additional perspective to things and situations. 

  

Overoming/ Addressing Negativity Bias

Because of the evolutionary nature of the bias, it cannot be undone but we can definitely address it by changing the way we interact with the stimuli. We can thrive on the following 2 facts 

• Neurons that fire together, wire together which means that if we can get a bunch of neurons firing together for positive experiences, that will build new neural structures.

• "Neuroplastic" nature of the brain which means that through repeated action of a similar type,  brain has the ability to change itself. 

Rick Hanson, the renowned neuroscientist and psychologist, suggests a 3-step process to address the Negativity Bias. This process is termed as "Take in the Good". The three steps are as mentioned below

• Let positive facts become positive experiences. Always be open to notice and cherish, even the small, little moments of success and happiness. 

• Savour the positive experience for 10-20-30 seconds. Let the experience get as intense as possible.

• Intend and sense that the positive experience is soaking into you, becoming a part of you   

As per some scientists/ researchers, "Self-Talk" plays a key role in minimizing the impact of Negativity Bias. "How we talk to ourselves about our experiences" goes a long way in addressing the negativity bias

Grant Benner, Mt. Sinai Beth Israel Medical Center, has suggested the following steps to address the Negativity Bias

• Awareness - Recognize what's happening when negative pattern gets activated and then try to break the pattern by doing something each and every time, even if it is very small

• Stop Overanalysing things

• Replace negative self-talk with positive self-talk

• Savour - Celebrate small victories

At times, it pays to be Positive about Negativity !