When we say “bad is stronger than good”, we are generally referring to the phenomena that the effects of bad things outweigh the good things in a human’s life. Bad means that the event or situation harms one’s mind while good means that it has a positive effect. It has been concluded that bad outweighs the good based on various researches made by social psychologists on this particular concept, for example, the stress that a human mind goes through on losing money outweighs the joy of gaining money unless the money that the person has gained is much more than what the person lost. The biggest proof of this idea has been put up by the research done on relationships which proved that human being’s need for belonging is not a need for positive interactions but to steer clear of the negative ones. In short, a human achieves more peace by eliminating the bad from their life in comparison to adding more good in their life. In psychological terms, this is known as negativity bias.
Why is Bad Stronger than Good?
According to the evolutionary cycle, the creatures that have been more adaptable to the bad have been more likely to survive things that threatened their existence. A study done on everyday events in life concluded that the effects of bad events occurring during a day had more extensive effects on a human mind than the good ones. Good and bad events create their effect in terms of mood, but the bad events also have another effect which surprisingly can sometimes influence a good mood but good events do not have that effect; they are only able to influence good moods. According to another study on the impacts of the daily events on a human mind, a good day doesn’t have any impact on the person the next day while a bad day negatively influences the next day.
How It Affects One’s Life
It might not be clear but this concept penetrates life on almost every life and brings about changes in many aspects of life. Just a few aspects have been discussed below to emphasize on the far-reaching effects of this concept.
Relationships
As previously mentioned, in the study about relationships, it has been proposed that each negative interaction in a relationship has to be outweighed by five positive interactions, or else the relationship is more likely to fail. According to this study, the bad in relationships is at least five times stronger than the good. It might not only be limited to romantic relationships but also with family and friends; maybe even acquaintances. For example, bad parenting is much stronger than genetic influence. No matter how perfect the genes are but bad parenting can negatively affect an individual and can make good genetic makeup all go to waste.
Lifestyle
Studies have shown that negative bias can reduce the quality of one’s life drastically. Negative thoughts increase the levels of cortisol hormone in the body which leads to increased stress and decreased immunity level; which in turn increases the rate of heart diseases, high blood pressure, and also mental health issues such as anxiety and depression.
How to Counter Negative Bias
According to Dr. Rick Hanson, the brain of our ancestors was more conscious about survival which makes us quite receptive to taking our conscious thinking more towards the negative than the positive. As he stated, “In effect, the brain is like Velcro for negative experiences, but Teflon for positive ones. That shades “implicit memory” – your underlying expectations, beliefs, action strategies, and mood – in an increasingly negative direction.” This surely does not mean that we can not make it better. It is possible to counter these negative emotions and make your life much more positive in comparison.
Foster Self-Awareness
The first step is to be aware of your inner negativity bias. Once you get hold of it, it will be easier to fight it without letting it hurt you. This can be achieved through meditation.
Broaden Your Horizon
Do things that stimulate the brain in a positive way like taking a walk through nature, creating art, or reading a good book.
Challenge the Thought
The best way to tackle negativity bias is by countering the negative thought with a positive one. Once your fears start taking a hold of you, stop that thought right there and think about something that calms your mind and pleases you.
Absorb the Good
Starting the day with a positive mindset will take you a long way. According to Dr. Hanson, one should try to absorb the good experiences to the fullest and not cast them away hastily. By keeping that attitude, one strengthens their mind to captivate more positive thoughts and change the pattern with which our mind works. In the long run, this helps both, the mental and physical well-being of a person. Let us look at a few things through which humans can focus more on the good parts of life.
Avoid Negative Stimuli
Your brain also reacts either positively or negatively towards the content you consume. Give your mind a little peace by keeping away from the news, which mostly triggers the negative stimuli of the brain, and also tone down any media that is violent or toxic.
Be Grateful
A lot of the negativity bias comes from fear and the absence of gratitude towards what they have. When you feel down, try to be grateful for the smallest blessing you can think of.
This particular phenomenon is not limited to one part of the world, it can be seen in Pakistan too. Most of the news platforms tend to publish and sensationalize only the negative news whilst sidelining any word of positive news. It is no wonder that there is hopelessness spread amongst the people of Pakistan because not only are they exposed to only the horrors of the country, such information tends to seep into the mind and alter the workings of it and affects the behavior.
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