Overcoming Negativity Bias

Humans are hardwired to pay more attention to negative events than positive events. This proclivity is known as the negativity bias. Thankfully,  a large number of good events can overcome the effects of a small number of bad events, which can work out well because most of us experience many more positive events than negative events. The problem is that we tend to pay more attention to the bad things that happen.

In this episode, Andrea and Craig discuss negativity bias and how to overcome its effects by attending more to positive events.  As always, Craig makes a mention of pets and animals while Andrea figures out a way to mention Aristotle. Listen to this episode to learn how to keep the little negative things from bothering you so much and gain insight into how focusing on the positive will have a beneficial effect on your life and mental health.

Articles on Negativity Bias:
Not all emotions are created equal: The negativity bias in social-emotional development
 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3652533/

Reappraisal—but not Suppression—Tendencies Determine Negativity Bias After Laboratory and Real-World Stress Exposure

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8531907/

Convergent behavioral and corticolimbic connectivity evidence of a negativity bias in children and adolescents
 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5390736/

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Live Well and Flourish website: https://www.livewellandflourish.com/

The theme music for Live Well and Flourish was written by Hazel Crossler, hazel.crossler@gmail.com.

Production assistant - Paul Robert