Origin of Negativity

I was thinking the other day about something rather negative. And that led me to think about why we tend to think negative and why once we start thinking negatively it is so hard to shift gears and get back to positive thoughts.

What I found out is rather interesting…..

Actually, there are several schools of thought regarding negative behavior. You have a theological view point, a humanistic view point and a scientific view point. Let's take a look at each one:

- Theology says that it is because we are 'fallen', it's in our nature, we are evil creatures capable of good things but we tend to do more 'wrong' than good. With God, the balance is restored and He empowers us to 'shun the wrong' and 'do the right' so that, if we are willing and able and give our life over to him, we can become more like Him.

- Humanism tells us that whatever our philosophy of the universe may be, ultimately the responsibility for the kind of world in which we live rests with us. It is the free will of man to behave negatively or positively with no relation to a God of any kind.

- Scientific focuses on what they call 'negativity bias' that is the name for a psychological phenomenon by which humans pay more attention to and give more weight to negative than positive experiences. Neurologists believe this is an innate behavior. To put it another way, the 'negativity bias' is the perceptual phenomena whereby an emotionally negative stimulus is processed faster than a positive or neutral stimulus.

According to Richard Conniff's recent article, Accentuating the Negative, "it is in fact, our biological nature to accentuate the negative, to dwell on the one cutting remark rather than the three or four sweet nothings. We differentiate between negative and positive events in just a 10th of a second, and the negative ones grab our attention.

For instance, when researchers show test subjects a paper with a grid of smiley faces on it and one angry face, the subjects instantly zero in on the angry face. Reverse the pattern, and it takes them a little longer to pick out the solitary smile. Likewise, when a boss makes four positive comments in an employee review, and one quibble, the subordinate almost invariably fixates on the quibble.

This tendency might seem perverse. But neurologists say it's a survival mechanism. A heightened focus on what can go wrong helps us deal with danger. An angry face grabs our attention more urgently than a smile because it represents a potential threat." From the dawn of human history, our very survival depended on our skill at dodging danger. The brain developed systems that would make it unavoidable for us not to notice danger and thus, hopefully, respond to it.

According to Conniff the "negativity bias got built into our minds during millions of years of evolution because early humans who were oblivious to danger often got a brief, bloody lesson in natural selection." As Rozin and Royzman delicately phrase it, "the threat of a predator is a terminal threat." Excessive blitheness tended to get cut short, and thus became less and less common in succeeding generations. Skittishness, or negativity bias, became a distinguishing characteristic of the survivors. And it continues to drive our behavior even now, when the biggest threat in our daily lives is likely to be a difficult boss or a disagreeable spouse."

Research shows that one consequence of the negativity bias is that when people's thoughts are wandering, unoccupied, people tend to begin to brood; the negativity bias means that anxious or angry thoughts capture our attention more effectively than happier thoughts.

OK, so we are innately negative or programmed for survival, now what, are we just destined to be controlled by our biological programming to be negative?

Well, yes and no. You see, the key is to not become negative about being negative. Not to focus on your biological response, your negativity, but simply to acknowledge it and move to another thought, preferably a positive one. It is when we focus or fixate on negativity that it can fester and grow and literally take over our thinking.

So the goal becomes not to fixate on negative thoughts as well as create a balance with positive thoughts. Here's the tricky part. Because of the disproportionate weight of the negative, balance does not mean 50-50 equilibrium. Research shows that for every negative thought you have you need to create five positive ones.

The key is that we probably shouldn't be so hard on ourselves for having negative thoughts nor should we embrace these thoughts, they are simply thoughts. Instead of berating ourselves maybe we can just acknowledge that it is a part of being human and then make a conscious effort to shift our minds from the negative thought. As simple as if we were going to make a right turn instead of a left turn.

So, the next time you find yourself being negative don't be so darn negative about it!

Similar Articles

The following articles contain content that is similar to this article, Origin of Negativity:

• Power of Positive Thinking
• Laughter and Health
• Science Behind Humor
• Excuse Me If I Don't Feel the Least Bit @#!%!@ Spiritual Today!

  
  

  Return to Top Origin of Negativity
  

  ---

  
  
  
  ADD TO YOUR SOCIAL BOOKMARKS: Blink Del.icio.us Digg
  Furl Google Simpy Spurl Technorati Y! MyWeb