Why We Like Bad News

Summary

This SciShow Psych episode explores why we're drawn to negative news despite the world improving. It discusses the 'negativity bias,' where negative events have a more significant impact on us than positive ones, and 'positive-negative asymmetry,' where we assume a positive outlook but prioritize negative information. The show suggests social media might counteract this by encouraging the sharing of positive content, yet notes that high arousal emotions, whether positive or negative, drive sharing more than the valence itself. It concludes by highlighting the importance of being aware of negative news to protect and improve our world.

Takeaways

• 📉 Despite negative headlines, global homicide rates have been dropping for centuries and life expectancy is increasing.
• 📰 The media is often blamed for focusing on sensational negative news, but consumer demand plays a role in this trend.
• 🧠 Humans have a psychological negativity bias, which makes us more attentive to bad news than good news.
• 🔍 A 2007 Pew Research Center study showed that topics like war, terrorism, and disasters consistently attract more attention.
• 💔 Negative news stories elicit stronger physiological reactions, as demonstrated by studies measuring heart rates and skin conductance.
• 🌟 There's also a positivity bias where people generally assume a positive outlook on life, despite the negativity bias.
• 🔄 This contradiction is known as positive-negative asymmetry, where we expect good but prioritize bad information due to its rarity and risk.
• 🚨 Negative information is processed more thoroughly by the brain and described with more complex language.
• 📲 Social media might counteract negativity bias, as studies show positive content is more likely to be shared and go viral.
• 🌐 The way people engage with social media as active participants may encourage the sharing of positive content over negative.
• ⚠️ High arousal content, whether positive or negative, is more likely to be shared due to its impact on the nervous system.

Q & A

Why do people tend to pay more attention to bad news?

People are wired to pay more attention to bad news due to a psychological phenomenon known as negativity bias, which causes negative events to have a bigger impact on us than positive ones.

What is the negativity bias and how does it affect our perception?

Negativity bias is the tendency for negative things to have a more significant effect on us than positive ones. It causes negative events to stick out more in our minds, be processed more thoroughly, and potentially outweigh positive events.

How does the positivity bias contradict the negativity bias?

The positivity bias is the tendency for people to form mostly positive theories about reality, despite the negativity bias that makes us pay more attention to bad news. This contradiction is known as positive-negative asymmetry.

What role does the rarity of negative events play in our attention to them?

Negative events are more rare and ignoring them poses a bigger risk than paying too much attention to them, which is why our brains are more vigilant about them, helping us to avoid danger.

How does the 1991 study on color naming and negative words relate to our attention to negative information?

The 1991 study showed that participants took longer to name the colors of negative words, indicating that the negative words themselves drew their attention, demonstrating our inherent focus on negative information.

What did the 2003 study involving subliminal messaging reveal about our perception of negative words?

The 2003 study found that even when negative and positive words were flashed too fast for conscious recognition, participants had a stronger subconscious impression of the negative words.

How does social media potentially act as an antidote to the prevalence of negative news?

Social media might be an antidote to negative news because people tend to share more positive content when they are active participants, as opposed to being passive consumers of traditional media.

What did the New York Times analysis in 2010 reveal about the sharing of positive articles?

The New York Times analysis showed that articles with a more positive tone were more likely to be shared and go viral, suggesting a preference for positive content in social media environments.

What is the difference between emotional valence and arousal in the context of news sharing?

Emotional valence refers to whether content is perceived as positive or negative, while arousal tracks whether content activates the nervous system. High arousal, regardless of valence, can significantly impact the decision to share content.

Why is it important not to discount negative news despite the potential benefits of positive news?

Negative news helps us stay vigilant about potential threats and problems, allowing us to take action to protect ourselves and improve the world. It's essential for awareness and change.

How does the way we use social media as active participants influence the content we share?

As active participants on social media, we share content that signals aspects of our identity and communicates with our network. This can lead to a preference for sharing positive content to avoid alienating our connections.

Outlines

00:00

📰 The Power of Negative News

This paragraph discusses the prevalence of negative news and its impact on our psychology. Despite improvements in global conditions such as reduced homicide rates and increased life expectancy, negative news dominates media consumption due to our innate negativity bias. This bias makes negative events more impactful and memorable, leading to a more thorough processing in our brains. The media capitalizes on this by focusing on topics like war, terrorism, and disasters, which have been consistently popular over decades. Studies have shown that negative news elicits stronger physiological reactions and is more likely to be shared on social media, indicating our inherent preference for negative information.

05:01

🌟 The Role of Social Media in Shifting News Consumption

The second paragraph explores how social media might counteract our negativity bias by encouraging the sharing of positive content. Studies have shown that positive articles are more likely to be shared and go viral, and platforms like YouTube and Twitter see a preference for sharing positive over negative content. This shift is attributed to the active participation nature of social media, where users share to reflect their identity and engage with their community. However, the decision to share is more influenced by the arousal value of the content, which can include negative emotions like anger or anxiety, suggesting that high-arousal content, regardless of valence, drives sharing behavior.

Keywords

💡Homicide Rates

Homicide rates refer to the number of murders per a certain population size, typically expressed per 100,000 individuals. In the context of the video, it is mentioned that worldwide homicide rates have been dropping for centuries, suggesting a trend towards increased safety and security. This contradicts the common perception of a dangerous world, highlighting a positive trend that is often overshadowed by negative news.

💡Life Expectancy

Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average number of years a person may expect to live, based on factors such as age, gender, and general health. The video points out that global life expectancy keeps climbing, indicating an overall improvement in living conditions and healthcare. This is a key indicator of progress and well-being, yet it is often overshadowed by negative news stories.

💡Media Sensationalism

Media sensationalism is the practice of presenting news stories or headlines in a way that is designed to attract attention and increase readership, often by emphasizing the most shocking or emotional aspects. The video suggests that the media's focus on negative and sensational news contributes to the perception of a scary and hopeless world, even though reality may be more positive.

💡Negativity Bias

Negativity bias is a psychological phenomenon where negative events, emotions, or stimuli have a greater impact on an individual's psychology than positive ones. The video explains that this bias causes people to pay more attention to bad news, as it is more memorable and emotionally engaging. This bias is deeply ingrained and influences how we process and remember information.

💡Positivity Bias

Positivity bias refers to the tendency of people to form positive beliefs and expectations about the world and their experiences. The video discusses this as a contradiction to negativity bias, where despite our inclination to focus on the negative, we still maintain a generally optimistic outlook. This bias can motivate exploration and risk-taking behaviors.

💡Positive-Negative Asymmetry

Positive-negative asymmetry is the concept that while people may have a positivity bias in their overall worldview, they still place more importance on negative events. The video uses this term to explain why negative news grabs our attention more effectively, as it is perceived as more significant and requires a more thorough cognitive processing.

💡Social Media

Social media refers to the platforms and applications that enable users to create and share content or participate in social networking. The video suggests that social media might counteract negativity bias by encouraging the sharing of positive content. It contrasts with traditional media consumption, where people are passive observers, and on social media, they are active participants.

💡Viral Content

Viral content is online material that spreads rapidly and widely, often due to its shareability and appeal to a broad audience. The video cites a study showing that positive articles are more likely to go viral, indicating that while negativity bias exists, there is also a significant appetite for positive and uplifting content online.

💡Emotional Valence

Emotional valence refers to the degree to which something is perceived as positive or negative. The video discusses how researchers differentiate between emotional valence and arousal, noting that while positive content might be shared more, high arousal content (regardless of valence) is more likely to be shared due to its ability to activate the nervous system.

💡Arousal

Arousal, in the context of the video, is a measure of the intensity of an emotional response, which can range from calm to excited. It is distinct from emotional valence and is suggested to play a significant role in the decision to share content online. High arousal content, such as that which incites awe, anger, or anxiety, is more likely to be shared, regardless of whether it is positive or negative.

Highlights

Worldwide homicide rates have been dropping for centuries, and global life expectancy is increasing.

Media often focuses on negative news due to higher consumer demand.

People are psychologically wired to pay more attention to bad news.

The phenomenon of negativity bias explains why negative news has a stronger impact on us.

Negative events are processed more thoroughly by the brain than positive ones.

People describe negative events with more complex language than positive ones.

There is a positivity bias, where people form mostly positive theories about reality.

Positive-negative asymmetry refers to assuming good outcomes while focusing on potential negative events.

Negative events are more rare and ignoring them poses a greater risk than over-attention.

Negative headlines grab attention because they can't be ignored as easily as positive words.

Subconsciously, people are more affected by negative words even when not fully registered.

People who prefer positive news still tend to gravitate towards negative stories.

Social media may counteract negativity bias, as positive content is more likely to be shared.

The way people use social media as active participants influences the type of content they share.

High arousal, not just negativity, influences the decision to share content online.

Negativity bias serves as a vigilance mechanism to protect us from harm.

Media's role is to inform us about threats and problems in the world.

While enjoying positive stories, it's important not to discount the value of negative news in making the world better.

Transcripts

[♪ INTRO]

If you read the headlines today, you probably come away feeling like

the world is a scary, dangerous, hopeless place.

But in reality, many things are better now than ever.

Worldwide homicide rates have largely been dropping for centuries, for example,

and global life expectancy keeps climbing. So why all the bad news?

It’s easy to put the blame on the media for running

sensational, negative news stories that’ll sell papers; if it bleeds, it leads, as they say.

But who’s buying those papers?

Like, we are. And there’s a psychological reason for that.

Even if we say we prefer good news, we are wired to pay more attention to bad news.

But here’s a surprise: social media might be the antidote.

The media isn’t making it up: there really is higher consumer demand for negative news.

In 2007, the Pew Research Center released data on

US consumer news preferences over the last two decades.

Throughout that time, the most popular topics stayed pretty reliable:

war and terrorism, bad weather, and human-made and natural disasters. Bad news all around.

A 2012 study found a clue as to why.

In that study, participants were hooked up to biosensors to watch a series of news stories.

The negative stories brought on stronger and more sustained reactions

in the participants’ heart rates and skin conductance levels than positive stories did.

As an explanation, the researchers in that study

pointed to a long-established phenomenon: negativity bias.

That’s the tendency for negative things, all else being equal,

to have a bigger effect on us than positive things.

Specifically, negative things stick out more in your mind and tend to outweigh any other good things.

Your brain also processes the negative more thoroughly than the positive.

For example, people tend to describe negative things

with more complex language than they do positive things.

The weird thing is that there’s also a positivity bias.

That’s the tendency for people to form mostly positive theories about reality.

And that contradiction, in itself, also has a name: positive-negative asymmetry.

Basically, we assume things will be mostly good, but we still place more importance on bad things.

For one thing, they’re more rare, and for another,

ignoring them is a bigger risk than paying them too much attention.

The thinking is that this helps us survive.

Assuming things will turn out okay motivates people to explore the world,

whether that’s venturing out of their cave or asking someone out on a date.

But at the same time, being vigilant about the negative

helps people avoid danger while they’re doing that exploring.

That may be why negative headlines are so good at grabbing our attention.

A 1991 study had participants read negative, positive, and neutral words

printed in different colors and asked them to name the colors as quickly as possible.

It took longest for them to name the colors of negative words, and according to researchers,

that’s because they couldn’t help but pay attention to the word itself.

In a study from 2003, researchers flashed negative and positive words

at participants at a pace too fast for them to consciously register.

They still got a sense for the words on a subconscious level, but didn’t read them exactly.

Still, those participants got a stronger impression of the negative words than the positive words.

And a 2014 study found that even people who said

they preferred positive news stories still gravitated toward negative ones.

In other words, time and again, it's been shown that we're more aware of, and drawn to, the negative.

But believe it or not, there may be a glimmer of hope, thanks to social media, of all things.

In 2010, the New York Times released an analysis of over 7,000 articles,

showing the more positive an article was, the more likely it was to be shared, and to go viral.

And another study in 2017 showed that people using YouTube and Twitter

prefer sharing positive content over negative content.

Why is this? It may come down to the difference between

how people use social media and how they use traditional media.

We consume the news as outside observers, but we use social media as active participants.

People post, tweet, and email links to signal things about themselves

and communicate with the rest of the world.

And just like in real life, if you’re a Debbie Downer who fills people’s feeds with

too much sad, scary, or maddening content, you risk turning people off.

And that could sway our feeds to feel more positive.

However, researchers note that studying emotional valence,

whether something is perceived as positive or negative,

is different from studying what researchers call arousal,

which tracks whether or not something activates the nervous system and helps us feel.

It turns out that high arousal makes more of an impact on the decision to share something

than whether it’s positive or negative,

especially if what’s being shared taps into feelings of awe, anger, or anxiety.

And that might explain why some people feel like the tone and the content

of what’s being shared online has changed a lot in recent years.

It’s not ALL adorable cat pictures, unfortunately.

But don’t count out the bad news.

Researchers hypothesize that negativity bias is there to keep us vigilant about what can hurt us,

and the media is there to keep us abreast of threats, problems, and wrongdoing in the world.

If we shield ourselves from negative news,

we can’t do anything to protect ourselves, or to make it right.

So yes, enjoy that feel-good story your aunt shared on Facebook,

but don’t discount the gloomy headlines either.

Those headlines help us make the world a better place.

Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow Psych,

and a huge thanks to our patrons, who we love and appreciate

every single day here at SciShow headquarters.

If you’re interested in helping us make awesome videos,

head on over to patreon.com/scishow to get started.

[♪ OUTRO]