The Power of Bad: How the Negativity Effect Rules Us and How We Can Rule It
(Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read)
Why are we devastated by a word of criticism even when it’s mixed with lavish praise? Because our brains are wired to focus on the bad. This negativity effect explains things great and small: why countries blunder into disastrous wars, why couples divorce, why people flub job interviews, how schools fail students, why football coaches stupidly punt on fourth down. All day long, the power of bad governs people’s moods, drives marketing campaigns, and dominates news and politics.
Eminent social scientist Roy F. Baumeister stumbled unexpectedly upon this fundamental aspect of human nature. To find out why financial losses mattered more to people than financial gains, Baumeister looked for situations in which good events made a bigger impact than bad ones. But his team couldn’t find any. Their research showed that bad is relentlessly stronger than good, and their paper has become one of the most-cited in the scientific literature.
Our brain’s negativity bias makes evolutionary sense because it kept our ancestors alert to fatal dangers, but it distorts our perspective in today’s media environment. The steady barrage of bad news and crisismongering makes us feel helpless and leaves us needlessly fearful and angry. We ignore our many blessings, preferring to heed—and vote for—the voices telling us the world is going to hell.
But once we recognize our negativity bias, the rational brain can overcome the power of bad when it’s harmful and employ that power when it’s beneficial. In fact, bad breaks and bad feelings create the most powerful incentives to become smarter and stronger. Properly understood, bad can be put to perfectly good use.
As noted science journalist John Tierney and Baumeister show in this wide-ranging book, we can adopt proven strategies to avoid the pitfalls that doom relationships, careers, businesses, and nations. Instead of despairing at what’s wrong in your life and in the world, you can see how much is going right—and how to make it still better.
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John Tierney. (2019). The Power of Bad: How the Negativity Effect Rules Us and How We Can Rule It. Penguin Publishing Group.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)John Tierney. 2019. The Power of Bad: How the Negativity Effect Rules Us and How We Can Rule It. Penguin Publishing Group.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)John Tierney, The Power of Bad: How the Negativity Effect Rules Us and How We Can Rule It. Penguin Publishing Group, 2019.
MLA Citation (style guide)John Tierney. The Power of Bad: How the Negativity Effect Rules Us and How We Can Rule It. Penguin Publishing Group, 2019.
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- "The most important book at the borderland of psychology and politics that I have ever read."—Martin E. P. Seligman, Zellerbach Family Professor of Psychology at that University of Pennsylvania and author of Learned Optimism
Why are we devastated by a word of criticism even when it’s mixed with lavish praise? Because our brains are wired to focus on the bad. This negativity effect explains things great and small: why countries blunder into disastrous wars, why couples divorce, why people flub job interviews, how schools fail students, why football coaches stupidly punt on fourth down. All day long, the power of bad governs people’s moods, drives marketing campaigns, and dominates news and politics.
Eminent social scientist Roy F. Baumeister stumbled unexpectedly upon this fundamental aspect of human nature. To find out why financial losses mattered more to people than financial gains, Baumeister looked for situations in which good events made a bigger impact than bad ones. But his team couldn’t find any. Their research showed that bad is relentlessly stronger than good, and their paper has become one of the most-cited in the scientific literature.
Our brain’s negativity bias makes evolutionary sense because it kept our ancestors alert to fatal dangers, but it distorts our perspective in today’s media environment. The steady barrage of bad news and crisismongering makes us feel helpless and leaves us needlessly fearful and angry. We ignore our many blessings, preferring to heed—and vote for—the voices telling us the world is going to hell.
But once we recognize our negativity bias, the rational brain can overcome the power of bad when it’s harmful and employ that power when it’s beneficial. In fact, bad breaks and bad feelings create the most powerful incentives to become smarter and stronger. Properly understood, bad can be put to perfectly good use.
As noted science journalist John Tierney and Baumeister show in this wide-ranging book, we can adopt proven strategies to avoid the pitfalls that doom relationships, careers, businesses, and nations. Instead of despairing at what’s wrong in your life and in the world, you can see how much is going right—and how to make it still better. - reviews
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October 15, 2019
Coping strategies for the negativity bias that pervades our daily lives. For City Journal contributing editor Tierney and social scientist Baumeister (Psychology/Univ. of Queensland), co-authors of Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength (2011), the power of bad can be filed under the negativity effect, the "universal tendency for negative events and emotions to affect us more strongly than positive ones." We revel in praise for a much shorter time than we wallow in criticism. We are fed a constant diet of negative imagery because bad sells (if it bleeds, it leads). Regardless, write the authors, "bad can make us stronger in the end." Though it may be difficult to negate the negativity, the authors show how not to be ruled by it. Their prescriptions have mostly to do with reframing the context of the negative, isolating the rotten apple so it doesn't contaminate the remainder of the barrel. These specific strategies have a common-sensical tone: Learn to be as creative with your praise as you are with your criticism. Protect yourself, and don't expect bad apples to change on their own. Focus on making a good first impression. Regarding retail, they write, "no matter how crazy or obnoxious the customer, end on a good note." (True to the negativity effect, a single one-star review on Yelp will yield more hits than numerous five-star reviews.) Occasionally, the authors venture into less obviously popular areas--e.g., when we advocate penalties over prizes. A case in point is their call for "less carrot and more stick" when it comes to grading students, especially in college. So is their suggestion for doomsayers to "put your money where you doom is." As they write, "if doomsayers want society to spend large sums dealing with a threat, they should be willing to put their own cash--and reputations--on the line." That pronouncement may not seem reasonable in the face of something like climate change, but otherwise, the authors' advice rings true. A solid primer on how to put the power of bad to good use.COPYRIGHT(2019) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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July 1, 2019
If there's one thing that the best-selling authors of Willpower know, it's that, as Baumeister said in a linchpin paper, "Bad Is Stronger Than Good." Financial losses matter more to people than financial gains; one nasty comment about your hair, your presentation, or your book will outweigh all the glowing praise you have received. (I can identify.) Here, Tierney and Baumeister show us how to combat the kneejerk awful feelings that arise with the bad and use our rational minds to get to a better place.
Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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Why are we devastated by a word of criticism even when it’s mixed with lavish praise? Because our brains are wired to focus on the bad. This negativity effect explains things great and small: why countries blunder into disastrous wars, why couples divorce, why people flub job interviews, how schools fail students, why football coaches stupidly punt on fourth down. All day long, the power of bad governs people’s moods, drives marketing campaigns, and dominates news and politics.
Eminent social scientist Roy F. Baumeister stumbled unexpectedly upon this fundamental aspect of human nature. To find out why financial losses mattered more to people than financial gains, Baumeister looked for situations... - sortTitle
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