What’s the Negativity Bias and How Do We Work with It?

Do you feel like you have a tendency to focus on the negative aspects of your life and gloss over the positive aspects? If you feel like you do, you’re probably right and you’re not alone. No, you aren’t a downer or a pessimist. This tendency is actually an evolutionary adaptation called the negativity bias which likely helped keep your ancestors alive.

The Negativity Bias is humans’ tendency to give more weight to things that go wrong than things that go right. We respond faster and stronger to things our brains label as “bad,” easily dismissing the good. This helped our ancestors stay away from things that could harm them and be detrimental to our survival.

Our amygdala uses about 2/3 of its neurons to detect negativity and then quickly store it into long-term memory. So, 2/3 of your emotion and motivation regulator is designed to focus primarily on the negative.

In our world, for those of us who are fortunate enough to have our basic needs met, the constant negativity bias is no longer necessary for survival. The negativity bias, which was once an adaptive advantage, can therefore become maladaptive. So much so that a negative event can be detrimental to our work, relationships, health and happiness. Continually viewing things through the lens of the negativity bias can increase stress levels, impair our happiness and general quality of life. It also makes it harder to be patient and giving towards others.

Fortunately, there is a way to change the brain’s negativity bias. First, bring awareness to the fact that “bad” comes through stronger than “good.” Then, it’s a matter of training our brains for positivity. Actively become more attuned to positive emotions such as joy, contentment, pride, and love. Studies claim that for a positive experience to get into our long-term memory we should hold it in our field of attention for at least 10-20 seconds or it could disappear. This helps with sensitizing the amygdala to focus more on the good.

Due to another bias, the brain’s confirmation bias, the brain tends to search for, interpret, favor, and record information in a way that confirms or supports one’s beliefs and value. So, actively value and build on the positive. Notice and savor the positives. Purposefully draw your attention to and keep your attention on the positive aspects of your life. Draw your focus to the things that bring you joy. When you consistently partake in this practices that do this, you will be able to gradually shift what your subconscious mind focuses on. When you are to give more weight to the good, it will greatly change your overall experience of life for the better.  

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