Name: You're hardwired for negativity bias
Uploaded: 2025-07-20T17:49:29.000Z
Duration: 3 min 40 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Ugh, I got one negative comment on my video, and I cannot stop thinking about it.

Transition words & phrases

We pay more attention to negative events, learn more from negative experiences, and make decisions based on negative information more than positive data.

Oh yeah, I remember reading about that from that famous Pulitzer Prize-winning research from Kahneman and Svartz.

Research suggests that this negativity bias starts to emerge as early as infancy.

One study found that infants as young as three months of old showed signs of negativity bias when making social evaluations of others.

Explains why they're crying all the time.

Some studies suggest it also affects our political ideology and that conservatives have a stronger psychological response to negative information than liberals.

It shows that negative news is also more likely to be perceived as truthful, draws greater attention, and is seen with greater validity.

Yeah, nothing unites people more than hate.

But it's not exclusive to politics or first impressions.

Even financially, people have a stronger negative reaction to losing $20 than positive feelings that they get from gaining $20.

This can take a serious toll on our mental health, Bestie, causing us to ruminate, ruin our own relationship with loved ones, and make it difficult to maintain an optimistic outlook.

Okay, so is our negative framing positive in any way?

Psychological research suggests that negative bias influences our motivation.

So, we're way more motivated by the threat of loss than the incentive to gain.

Okay, so I'm gonna do a task when I'm more afraid of losing my job than gaining success.

But the good news is, by practicing daily mental health habits, you can train your brain to become more positive through neuroplasticity.

Using tools like reframing, positive self-talk, and interrupting your brain's rumination with things like...

Like going for a walk, listening to upbeat music, reading a good book, or petting Benji.

Because it takes more effort for positive experiences to be remembered in our little brainsies, it's important to savor positive moments.

Write it down like your life depends on it, Bestie.

Everything always comes back to gratitude.

Now go read the comments and only observe the positive ones.

Don't let those negative Nancys get you down.

Because let's face it, if you leave a negative comment online, what are you doing with your life?

Whenever you're writing a negative, mean comment online, this is who you're talking to.

Therapy has helped my life in immeasurable ways.

It's taught me emotional regulation, how to deal with grief, how to let go of control.

Therapy has helped me identify my blind spots and show up as a more healed person.

And look, finding the right therapist, it's kind of like dating, right?

Someone who could be so off the mark and not right for me may be perfect for you.

The most important part of therapy is finding someone who you resonate with, whose advice you value, and who can offer you tools that are nuanced and suited to your life.

BetterHelp is the sponsor of today's video, and they want to make starting therapy easier.

I have so many people in my personal life who have utilized BetterHelp and have had positive experience with their therapist.

And yes, sometimes it took them a second to find that therapist.

But luckily, BetterHelp allows you to switch therapists easily until you find the person that you connect with.

To start, you just fill out a questionnaire, and then you will match with a qualified and licensed therapist in as little as a few days.

If you're struggling, you can click the link in the description or go to betterhelp.com slash akana and get 10% off your first month of therapy.

Subtitles ListPlay Video

You're hardwired for negativity bias

perceive

struggle

mental

practice