Negativity bias

The negativity bias,[1] also known as the negativity effect, is a cognitive bias that, even when positive or neutral things of equal intensity occur, things of a more negative nature (e.g. unpleasant thoughts, emotions, or social interactions; harmful/traumatic events) have a greater effect on one's psychological state and processes than neutral or positive things.[2][3][4] In other words, something very positive will generally have less of an impact on a person's behavior and cognition than something equally emotional but negative. The negativity bias has been investigated within many different domains, including the formation of impressions and general evaluations; attention, learning, and memory; and decision-making and risk considerations.

  1. ^ Kanouse, D. E., & Hanson, L. (1972). Negativity in evaluations. In E. E. Jones, D. E. Kanouse, S. Valins, H. H. Kelley, R. E. Nisbett, & B. Weiner (Eds.), Attribution: Perceiving the causes of behavior. Morristown, NJ: General Learning Press.
  2. ^ Baumeister, Roy F.; Finkenauer, Catrin; Vohs, Kathleen D. (2001). "Bad is stronger than good" (PDF). Review of General Psychology. 5 (4): 323–370. doi:10.1037/1089-2680.5.4.323. S2CID 13154992. Retrieved 2014-11-19.
  3. ^ Lewicka, Maria; Czapinski, Janusz; Peeters, Guido (1992). "Positive-negative asymmetry or "When the heart needs a reason"". European Journal of Social Psychology. 22 (5): 425–434. doi:10.1002/ejsp.2420220502.
  4. ^ Rozin, Paul; Royzman, Edward B. (2001). "Negativity bias, negativity dominance, and contagion". Personality and Social Psychology Review. 5 (4): 296–320. doi:10.1207/S15327957PSPR0504_2. S2CID 4987502.