Negativity vs. Positivity Bias: Why Are We Hardwired to Be Negative?

Change Your Brain Every Day

Dr Daniel Amen

Braintrauma, Healthtips, Sleep, Obesity, Anxiety, Braininjury, Depression, Ptsd, Mentalhealth, Mood, Brainhealth, Health & Fitness, Energy, Disease, Addiction, Mental Health, Healthadvice, Adhd, Memory, Focus

4.6 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 10 February 2025

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Why do we tend to be so much more focused on the negative aspects of life than the positive? What happens in our brain when our minds are predisposed to negativity. In this episode of the podcast, the Amens discuss negativity bias, and why we should be active in transforming our own mindset.

00:00 Intro

01:02 About Negativity

04:34 Negativity vs Positivity Bias

06:53 Chronic Negativity and Cortisol

08:00 Negativity Positivity Bias Questionnaire

09:46 Negativity Effects on the Brain

14:49 Some Negativity is Important

16:21 Sponsor

17:36 Accurate Thinking

19:39 Positivity Bias Training

28:28 Mindset Hacks

31:28 Wrap Up

Transcript

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0:00.0	So negativity bias is the tendency to prioritize negative input over positive ones.
0:09.0	It influences everything, including how we perceive things, our memory, attention, emotional regulation,
0:18.0	leading to emotional instability when it's too high and even cognitive
0:23.6	impairments. In a study of over 7,500 patients, we found that negativity, as it increased,
0:33.6	activity in the prefrontal cortex decreased.
0:38.3	And negativity was associated with many psychiatric disorders,
0:43.3	especially anxiety and depression.
0:49.3	Every day you are making your brain better or you are making it worse.
0:55.6	Stay with us to learn how you can change your brain for the better every day.
1:02.6	Well, today we're going to tackle negativity, an evolutionary quirk with a profound effect on our physical and mental health.
1:17.8	Stay with us to learn how you can train your brain to be more positive when appropriate and resilient.
1:29.4	My favorite topic.
1:31.6	Hi, everyone.
1:32.7	So have you ever noticed how negativity tends to stick with you longer than positivity?
1:37.9	Well, today we're going to take a deep dive into why that happens and more importantly,
1:42.0	how you can flip the script for a healthier, happier
1:45.3	brain, especially if you tend to, let's just say, be more biased towards the negative like I can be.
1:53.3	Some anxiety and negativity is essential. People with low levels of anxiety die early from accidents and preventable illnesses.
2:06.7	Too much, obviously bad for your brain.
2:13.2	The only people who should be masterful at predicting the worst are your contract lawyers.
2:21.4	But chronic negativity is bad for the brain.
2:28.3	Research shows that just seeing the word no or other negative words for less than a second disrupts brain function
	...

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