Why do some people focus more on the negative and less on the positive?

Perhaps it is more prudent for us to remember the negative so that we may remember in the future to stay away from those people or situations.

Here is a good example for your question: everyday, police officers save lives and protect the public. this just comes natural and officers do not expect a gold medal each time an event like this occurs. its just part of the job. B U T…....let one officer arrest the wrong person or make a small mistake and this event makes the newspaper headlines.

People tend to remember the bad in each other, rather than the good. is it just human nature? probably so and it gives them something to gossip about. we do not live in a perfect world. remember, there is a heaven and a hell. its up to you and i to decide which road we are going to take. this other person will soon see the light and hopefully its not too late for either of you, if this is what you want. keep your head up and keep smiling. the world is full of good people and earth is just a proving ground.

It is a bad trait that some people have.

The value of ‘x’ negativeness far out weighs the value of ‘x’ positiveness. It’s general human mentality. It’s the same for gambling. The impact of losing $100 is more devastating than the positive impact of winning $100. And to build on this, you’d be more prone to keep gambling to breakeven than to continue winning more money.

I agree with all these answers, but I’ll also add that it’s hard to disregard all the bad stuff on the planet. People see the world and humanity for what it seems to be sometimes and are labeled pessimists. Some are trained to see the bad stuff probably because of their upbringing. I bounce back and forth between optimism and pessimism because I don’t know whether to just accept the world as it is, or try to overcome all the messed up things.

I do this to myself. Any good I’ve done could have just as easily been done by thousands of other people. Whatever bad things I’ve done are uniquely attributable to me. The effect of my life on humanity is a net negative.

What @stranger_in_a_strange_land said.

But I’m starting to be able to see more positive.

An insecure, paranoid perspective formed from experiences of hurt will do that. If you’ve had a really bad go of things then you might dissect every little bit of good, kind of waiting for the evil you’re sure that lurks to surface. You might go about trying to flush it out by being antagonistic and in frustration your partner might crack, throw up their hands and let loose with something hurtful you will react to by saying, “ah ha, look- I knew all along blah blah blah…”

Negative people are mostly formed over time and there are lots of “tricks” that can be done to thwart panic attacks and outrages. One of my favorites is keeping a blank calendar of each month and daily writing in at least one thing that made the day worth being alive for, along with foods eaten, wardrobe, reminders, appts., activities done, etc. This helps me get back on track when I’m feeling skitchy and argumentative or neglected- I pull out the calendar and look at just what I’ve been doing, maybe make some apologies and get on with trying to live better and behave better.

Curious that you didn’t ask:
Why do some people focus more on the positive and less on the negative?

Schemata theory explains why people exhibit and maintain certain relatively persistent patterns and behaviour.

The link I provide is a great explanation that will answer your question.

One reason could be that people have simply not been taught how to see the best in things, but rather the bad.

Another likely reason is the chemicals that are present in the brain can affect how a person will react to a situation. When then chemicals are in one combination, a negative reaction will take place, when there is a different combination, a positive reaction.

Basic emotions are hardwired into our unconscious brain. Negative ones are more important for our basic survival needs, especially fear. The desire to avoid pain is very strong. Only when we achieve this can we seek pleasure.

Feelings or complex emotions require rational thought as well. We can learn to kill anger if we really want to. We can also learn to focus on opportunities without underestimating risks.

Thanks to everyone for your answers. I like how each person had something different to contribute.

@lifeflame Good point. I guess I didn’t ask because it’s easier for me to understand why someone would be more positive than why someone would choose to look at the world in a way that would only bring unhappiness into his/her life. But I might just ask that question anyway just for fun!

Was it not Tolstoy who said, “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way” ? I think you hit on another truth there: that conflict – thus negativity – is actually more dramatic and stimulating to us.

I just wrote a ranting blog entry this week about bureaucracy. As I cover a large range of topics in my blog, it’s interesting for me to see which friends respond to which articles. I’ve been surprised this week to get responses from people who don’t usually comment so much—I guess energy attracts energy, and anger taps into a different crowd.

Here is something tied to the subject of noticing good vs noticing bad.

I believe it was in a Ted talk that I saw a woman speaker who had done a study to determine what happy long-lasting couples did better than the other ones.

It turns out the best couples compliment each other much more than they criticize each other. Her study revealed that for each criticism received, you need 5 compliments to get back to the same level of couple happiness as before the criticism. In other words, in a couple situation, the negative stuff has 5 times more impact than the positive.

Isn’t it incredible?...5 times?

How on earth do they measure the “same level of couple happiness”? I’m always a bit dubious about these figures…

I don’t know the details of how they did the research exactly, as I said I only saw a presentation. But I would imagine they went about figuring it out via a survey of some sort.

I would not be too dubious, though. Ted talks are very reliable. They only get legit people to talk there, from many different fields too. And legit is a euphemism. They got people like Bono, Gordon Brown, Bill Clinton, JJ. Abrams, Oliver Sacks… and so many more to talk there. I think that this particular talk might have been given by the anthropologist Helen Fisher of Rutgers university. But I watched it some time ago now, so I can’t be sure 100% it was her. The figures however, did make a lasting impression on me.

2nd Answer.

Here is a good example of LDs question.

Newspaper healines: Man Rapes 12 Year Old Girl.

Below, in small print,,,,,,,Minister Save Child From Drowning

Three years from now, which one of the above are you going to remember?

People tend to remember the bad and not the good.