← all facts
attention
Bad news is heavier than good news.
A 2008 review found that humans process negative stimuli faster, remember them longer, and react to them more intensely.
The mind is designed to prioritize survival over happiness. A single insult requires more cognitive effort to process than a compliment, explaining why one bad review outweighs dozens of good ones.
You are biologically biased to notice the threat in the room.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Vaish, Grossmann, and Woodward, 2008, Negativity Bias
- What the check found
- The cited study exists and accurately reflects the scientific consensus on negativity bias, though the specific phrasing is a summary rather than a direct quote from the source text.
- Confidence
- Solid, with limits
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.