Example of Negativity Bias
- An employee receives a performance review with nine positive points and one area for improvement, but fixates on the criticism and dismisses the praise, leaving feeling bad about their performance.
The single negative element had disproportionate impact compared to multiple positive elements. - A relationship that includes many good moments and occasional conflicts feels troubled, because the conflicts loom larger in memory and emotional impact than the positive times.
Negative experiences outweighed positive ones of similar or greater frequency.
Note
This is a common biasExtensively documented across psychological research. The phrase "bad is stronger than good" comes from an influential review paper by Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Finkenauer, and Vohs.
