Sometimes I'll go shopping for something on Amazon and if I'm not sure about the product, I'll read the reviews. The other day I noticed that all the top reviews were negative ones.
The product had an overwhelming majority of positive reviews, but the negative reviews are the ones showing. It got me thinking about our negativity bias.
We all have this bias that tends to lean negative. In fact, one of the reasons that news networks show more tragedies than anything else has to do with what we're more likely to consume.
In general, negative news stories receive more clicks and views than positive ones. We're also more apt to jump online and give a negative review rather than positive if a product isn't working as intended versus a product working just fine.
Our personal negativity bias explains it all. It doesn't mean that we're constantly pessimistic. A lot of this happens without our intention. Being aware of it is half the battle.
Negative events also seem to affect us in a greater way than positive ones. These tendencies are all apart of the human experience.
Our brain is either creating new neuropathways or making old ones stronger. It's how habits are formed. The more negative thoughts we have, the easier it is to have negative thoughts.
In other words, if we're allowing the negativity bias to take us to cynical websites and news stories consistently, then we're forming a habit that becomes too easy to reinforce over time.
Or if we're in the habit of gossip, we'll stay in that habit until we actively try to interrupt it.
I guess this means that the ultimate challenge is to recognize the negativity bias and thwart it if it's leading to bad habits.
I find little successes when I start small—like maybe leaving a positive review on a well-working product.