Understanding Negativity Bias And Mental Health

Understanding basic tendencies of the human brain may help you make sense of your own thought patterns and experiences. One of these tendencies is called negativity bias, which may make you more likely to focus on bad events, painful memories, threats, or drawbacks in a given situation. Learning more about this bias and how to balance it may help support mood and mental health. For tailored, professional mental health care, consider meeting with an in-person or online therapist.

What is negativity bias?

Negativity bias refers to “the psychological tendency of individuals to prioritize negative information and experiences over positive ones,” which has been documented in humans of all ages. This bias explains why we may be more likely to remember the details of an unpleasant event than a happy one, and why emotional trauma can be long-lasting while memories of pleasant emotions may seem to fade more quickly. Negativity bias can also make us more likely to “round down,” such as characterizing a day as bad overall if something negative happens—even if something equally positive happens. 

Examples of negativity bias

In practice, negativity bias can often look like perfectionism or all-or-nothing thinking. Some examples of the negativity bias at work in everyday life include:

• Cooking a beautiful meal for your partner, but fixating on the one side dish that didn’t turn out like you wanted
• Being on the winning team in a basketball tournament, but thinking only about the one shot you missed
• Believing you’re bad at your job after receiving mostly positive feedback in your performance review along with one minor piece of negative feedback
• Automatically categorizing today as an overall “bad day” because of a difficult moment at work or school, even though several good things happened too 

It may not be inherently bad or harmful to notice negative aspects of a situation, and improving your skills so you don’t repeat the same mistakes can be helpful. However, negativity bias may be unhelpful when you allow it to eliminate any sense of positivity or nuance in a situation.

Negativity bias in relationships

This bias can also show up in social settings because of how it can affect impression formation. For example, a bad first impression can often be hard to overcome, yet a good one can be fragile and easy to ruin. 

The power of the negativity bias when forming impressions for the first time can have lasting impacts on relationships, especially if a person isn’t aware of the bias. If you’re struggling with the impacts of negativity on your relationships or mental health, consider reaching out to a therapist for support.

Negativity bias on social media

Experts also talk about negativity bias in the context of social media. Algorithms on social media platforms are typically optimized to get your attention. Emphasizing negative news or opinions can be an effective way to do this—particularly when stories are framed in a way that provokes strong emotions like anger or fear. 

As explained by researcher Brian Knutson, who worked on a study regarding news bias and sentiment on social media, “Typically, it’s the negative, highly arousing stories that get the most traffic” online. This effect may also help explain the “outrage cycles” often provoked by political candidates or political messaging online.

Researchers have studied this effect in regard to political beliefs as well. One older study titled “Differences in negativity bias underlie variations in political ideology” reports that a form of the negativity bias may help explain why some people tend to adopt more conservative views than others. It reports: “Compared with liberals, conservatives tend to register greater physiological responses to [negative] stimuli and also to devote more psychological resources to them,” suggesting the power of the negativity bias.

What causes negativity bias?

e Throughout human history, it’s thought to have helped them make the smartest decisions in dangerous situations, increasing the possibility that they’d live long enough to reproduce. While modern humans need to rely on this instinct far less often, it’s still an impactful element of the way our brains work.

How early does the negativity bias develop in humans?

There is ample evidence that the negativity bias exists in children, adolescents, and adults, but scientists disagree on exactly how early it develops. Older research suggested that very young infants, only three months old, already showed signs of early negativity bias. 

However, more recent research indicates that it might take shape slightly later. A 2023 study suggests the possibility of “a developmental change from positivity bias to negativity bias in the first year of human life” rather than humans showing signs of this bias from the first moment. 

Positive vs. negative bias

In the 1970s, researchers Margaret Matlin and David Stang first identified the concept of a positivity bias, or the Pollyanna Principle. It refers to a tendency to view past events more positively than they actually were. 

A 2015 experimental psychology study examined this bias in the context of social media. It reported that negative content on Twitter spread faster than positive content, but that positive content reached more people overall. The findings led the researchers to suggest that “people are more inclined to share and favorite positive contents, the so-called positive bias.” Keep in mind that mental health research is constantly evolving, so older sources may contain information or theories that have been reevaluated since their original publication date.

Positive or negative, any bias has the potential to distort judgment. Sometimes, interpreting things in an overly positive light may make a person miss important details or even threats, while interpreting things in an overly negative way may lead to mental health challenges. That’s why striving for balance when possible can often be a healthy approach.

How negativity bias may affect your self-view and mental health 

The brain’s negative bias may have been crucial in an evolutionary sense. For modern humans, however, this tendency might harm mental health if it’s not properly managed. For example, this bias can make recalling negative emotions or bad events feel almost as painful as they did when they happened. The power of this experience might lead you to start ruminating on the past and become trapped in a negative thought loop, which may lead to stress and anxiety.

Negativity bias might also give you an unfair view of yourself. It may make your brain fixate on your perceived flaws, failures, or that embarrassing moment from the past, despite all your good qualities and successes. If you’re not aware of this tendency, you might experience low self-esteem as a result.

Finally, negativity bias can make a person more likely to experience cognitive distortions, such as all-or-nothing or “dichotomous” thinking. Research suggests that these distortions can be linked to mental health symptoms. In fact, one study indicates that the more times a cognitive distortion like dichotomous thinking appeared in a person’s therapy transcript, the more severe their depression symptoms tended to be.

How to balance your negativity bias

We’re wired to have a negativity bias, but some strategies may help you balance this tendency a bit more over time. One method is detailed in the book Buddha’s Brain, where neuroscientist and psychologist Rick Hanson explores the origins of negativity bias. He suggests a three-step plan that may help you relieve the stress that can come from always focusing on the negative parts of life. The steps are:

1. Look for the good. Becoming aware of and acknowledging the positive events in our lives—even when they exist alongside the negative events—is the first step in this process. Also, pay attention to any resistance you feel as you make this shift to increase awareness.

2. Savor the good. Next, practice taking 20–30 seconds to breathe deeply and enjoy when a positive experience or pleasant emotions occur, giving your brain a chance to solidify the good memory. Over time, this practice may help your brain become more attracted to positive stimuli.

3. Visualize positive neural connections. Finally, it may help to create a mental image of the positive neurons in your brain firing and fusing as you focus on positive emotions and experiences.

Incorporating these steps as part of a daily practice may help you build a more balanced perspective. Including mindful breathing in the process may also help interrupt negative thoughts so you can reset and refocus, as older research published in Social Psychological and Personality Science suggests that mindfulness may help increase positive judgments. A therapist may help you develop mindfulness skills to improve mental health.

Setting reasonable expectations

Keep in mind that eliminating your negativity bias may not be possible, so you might adjust your expectations accordingly. A more reasonable goal may be to practice existing somewhere between the two extremes: not beating yourself up for focusing on the negative sometimes, but not giving up and overfocusing on it either. 

Also, remember that toxic positivity may not be a helpful goal either, which involves unrealistically repressing or ignoring valid feelings. It can be normal to feel hurt, upset, or otherwise affected by a negative experience. The practice of overcoming negativity bias invites us to feel these fully, but to not let them take over and obscure the positive that also exists around us.

When to seek support

Some negativity bias can be natural. However, it may be time to seek professional support if:

• Your negative thoughts or feelings are persistent or overwhelming
• Negativity is affecting your daily functioning, sleep, work, or relationships
• You’re experiencing depression symptoms
• You’re experiencing anxiety symptoms

A qualified therapist may be able to help you practice reframing and develop positive coping skills. 

Using BetterHelp to connect with a therapist online

Working with a therapist through an online therapy platform like BetterHelp may support balanced thought patterns and improved emotional regulation. BetterHelp allows you to get matched and then meet with a licensed therapist 100% virtually, via phone call, video call, or live chat. That means there’s no commuting required, as you can get support from the comfort of home. Online therapy also tends to cost less than in-person therapy without insurance. 

Does online therapy really work?

As online therapy has become more popular, many researchers have studied how effective it can be for treating mental health concerns. Most studies suggest that online therapy can often be similarly effective to in-person therapy, which means you can generally feel confident in choosing whichever format works best for your needs.