Uploaded September 2023 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
Why do we have a negativity bias that predisposes us to focus on bad things in the world? How can we channel that natural tendency to learn and improve, rather that be afraid and depressed by it? What are the implications of negativity bias for the functioning of our society ongoing?
In this episode we’ve got the important topic of the inherent Negativity Bias in human psychology to assess. This is the tendency for bad events, experiences and emotions to have more impact than good ones. We see this in relationships, social patterns, traumatic events, the media and learning processes. Research shows that bad impressions and stereotypes form quicker than good ones, that the self is more motivated to avoid bad self-definitions than to pursue good ones, and even that bad impressions are more thoroughly processed than good ones. This all plays out in out in the media, in the consumer markets and in politics and thus defines our culture ongoing. Is this natural? Is there anything we can do to mitigate it or use it for good? And do we even want to?
Fortunately for us our guest today is a specialist in these matters, one of the most prolific and cited psychologists in the world, with over 650 publications, Professor Roy Baumeister. His 40 books include the New York Times bestseller Willpower. His research covers self and identity, self-regulation, interpersonal rejection and the need to belong, sexuality and gender, aggression, self-esteem, meaning, consciousness, free will, and self-presentation, some of which we cover today in connection with negativity bias. In 2013 he received the William James award for lifetime achievement in psychological science (the Association for Psychological Science’s highest honor). In 2001 He co-wrote a seminal paper on the very topic of today’s episode in, called ‘Bad is Stronger than Good’; and one of his latest books, co-authored with John Tierney, is called “The Power of Bad: How the Negativity Effect Rules Us and How We Can Rule It”.
What we discuss:
00:00 Intro
06:30 Inventing God
08:30 Freud and the origin of morals
11:00 Negativity Bias Explained
13:00 Evolutionary reasons to focus on the negative
16:45 “Life has to win every day, death only has to win once”
18:45 We process the negative more thoroughly than the positive
19:45 “We learn a lot more from bad events than from good ones”
21:10 The Pollyanna principle VS Bad memories being good for learning
23:50 Dissociation, isolation of memories, repressors
25:30 Reassessing memories, EMDR, forgetting negative experiences
28:30 Negativity bias in the media, fiction and entertainment
32:50 Ai algorithms tracking our engagement with negativity, making us feel the world is worse than we it is
34:10 “The world is getting better on every index except hope”, John Tierney
36:30 Older people are happier than younger people, Laura Carstensen
38:00 Polarisation as a consequence of algorithmic driven negativity bias
42:50 Using fear for profit VS using fear for control
34:15 Tendency to see the outsiders as threats
48:00 The tendency to split into opposing groups, Mark W. Moffett
48:30 Belonging: our need not to be thought of negatively, hence not to be thrown out of the group
50:50 Theory of mind: Primates understand how other people think of them competitively but humans also collaboratively, hence focus on reputation
51:40 We act ethically because we need people to cooperate
54:50 Negativity bias leading to a sense of belonging in the camp against the ‘other’
56:30 Self control and regulation: taking control of negativity bias, we’re good at getting better
57:30 Not doing the bad things is what makes the difference
59:50 4:1 Ratio of good things to bad things required to swing the balance
01:01:10 How often couples fight VS how often you have sex (positive vs negative interactions)
01:03:40 How good are we at controlling our positive and negative thoughts?
01:04:40 Ego depletion confirmed: self control fatigue over time
References:
Baumeister and Tierney “The Power of Bad: How the negativity effect rules us and how we can rule it”
https://g.co/kgs/dZTtPB
‘Bad is stronger than Good’ Paper
researchgate.net/publication/46608952_Bad_Is_Stronger_than_Good
The Pollyanna principle
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollyanna_principle
Stanford’s Laura Carstenson - Old people are happier than young people
ted.com/talks/laura_carstensen_older_people_are_happier/transcript
Mark W. Moffett, “The Human Swarm”, Societies tend to separate into opposing camps
amazon.com/Human-Swarm-Societies-Arise-Thrive/dp/0465055680
The Gottman Ratio - relationships need a 5:1 ratio of positive and negative interactions to survive, because of the negativity bias
gottman.com/blog/the-magic-relationship-ratio-according-science
Baumeister and Tierney, “Will Power: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength”
https://g.co/kgs/zqP4S2
Why do we have a negativity bias that predisposes us to focus on bad things in the world? How can we channel that natural tendency to learn and improve, rather that be afraid and depressed by it? What are the implications of negativity bias for the functioning of our society ongoing?
In this episode we’ve got the important topic of the inherent Negativity Bias in human psychology to assess. This is the tendency for bad events, experiences and emotions to have more impact than good ones. We see this in relationships, social patterns, traumatic events, the media and learning processes. Research shows that bad impressions and stereotypes form quicker than good ones, that the self is more motivated to avoid bad self-definitions than to pursue good ones, and even that bad impressions are more thoroughly processed than good ones. This all plays out in out in the media, in the consumer markets and in politics and thus defines our culture ongoing. Is this natural? Is there anything we can do to mitigate it or use it for good? And do we even want to?
Fortunately for us our guest today is a specialist in these matters, one of the most prolific and cited psychologists in the world, with over 650 publications, Professor Roy Baumeister. His 40 books include the New York Times bestseller Willpower. His research covers self and identity, self-regulation, interpersonal rejection and the need to belong, sexuality and gender, aggression, self-esteem, meaning, consciousness, free will, and self-presentation, some of which we cover today in connection with negativity bias. In 2013 he received the William James award for lifetime achievement in psychological science (the Association for Psychological Science’s highest honor). In 2001 He co-wrote a seminal paper on the very topic of today’s episode in, called ‘Bad is Stronger than Good’; and one of his latest books, co-authored with John Tierney, is called “The Power of Bad: How the Negativity Effect Rules Us and How We Can Rule It”.
What we discuss:
00:00 Intro
06:30 Inventing God
08:30 Freud and the origin of morals
11:00 Negativity Bias Explained
13:00 Evolutionary reasons to focus on the negative
16:45 “Life has to win every day, death only has to win once”
18:45 We process the negative more thoroughly than the positive
19:45 “We learn a lot more from bad events than from good ones”
21:10 The Pollyanna principle VS Bad memories being good for learning
23:50 Dissociation, isolation of memories, repressors
25:30 Reassessing memories, EMDR, forgetting negative experiences
28:30 Negativity bias in the media, fiction and entertainment
32:50 Ai algorithms tracking our engagement with negativity, making us feel the world is worse than we it is
34:10 “The world is getting better on every index except hope”, John Tierney
36:30 Older people are happier than younger people, Laura Carstensen
38:00 Polarisation as a consequence of algorithmic driven negativity bias
42:50 Using fear for profit VS using fear for control
34:15 Tendency to see the outsiders as threats
48:00 The tendency to split into opposing groups, Mark W. Moffett
48:30 Belonging: our need not to be thought of negatively, hence not to be thrown out of the group
50:50 Theory of mind: Primates understand how other people think of them competitively but humans also collaboratively, hence focus on reputation
51:40 We act ethically because we need people to cooperate
54:50 Negativity bias leading to a sense of belonging in the camp against the ‘other’
56:30 Self control and regulation: taking control of negativity bias, we’re good at getting better
57:30 Not doing the bad things is what makes the difference
59:50 4:1 Ratio of good things to bad things required to swing the balance
01:01:10 How often couples fight VS how often you have sex (positive vs negative interactions)
01:03:40 How good are we at controlling our positive and negative thoughts?
01:04:40 Ego depletion confirmed: self control fatigue over time
References:
Baumeister and Tierney “The Power of Bad: How the negativity effect rules us and how we can rule it”
https://g.co/kgs/dZTtPB
‘Bad is stronger than Good’ Paper
researchgate.net/publication/46608952_Bad_Is_Stronger_than_Good
The Pollyanna principle
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollyanna_principle
Stanford’s Laura Carstenson - Old people are happier than young people
ted.com/talks/laura_carstensen_older_people_are_happier/transcript
Mark W. Moffett, “The Human Swarm”, Societies tend to separate into opposing camps
amazon.com/Human-Swarm-Societies-Arise-Thrive/dp/0465055680
The Gottman Ratio - relationships need a 5:1 ratio of positive and negative interactions to survive, because of the negativity bias
gottman.com/blog/the-magic-relationship-ratio-according-science
Baumeister and Tierney, “Will Power: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength”
https://g.co/kgs/zqP4S2
