Is the media negative? Media studies show that bad news far outweighs good news by as much as seventeen negative news reports for every one good news report. Why? The answer may lie in the work of evolutionary psychologists and neuroscientists. Humans seek out news of dramatic, negative events. These experts say that our brains evolved in a hunter-gatherer environment where anything novel or dramatic had to be attended to immediately for survival. So while we no longer defend ourselves against saber-toothed tigers, our brains have not caught up.
From evolutionary and neuro-scientific and probability perspectives, we are hard-wired to look for the dramatic and negative, and when we find it, we share it.
However, it turns out that being a little unsettled can be motivating. So, if you are motivated to act on the bad feedback by making changes in your behavior, it is better to focus on what is wrong and to hear it last.”
What is the media trying to motivate its viewers to change in their personality? If something bad happens related to a certain topic and the topics have been recently viral. Then if they report it they make more money. No matter if the police actually do 5 good things compared to 1 bad on a day to day basis, we only hear of the one bad. Why? Because the bad makes more money and the bad influences worse personality creating the influence to create more bad events, which make them more money.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wired-success/201411/why-we-love-bad-news-more-good-news
Why We Love Bad News More Than Good News
Does the current news negativity bias reflect media our public preferences?
PSYCHOLOGYTODAY.COM
From evolutionary and neuro-scientific and probability perspectives, we are hard-wired to look for the dramatic and negative, and when we find it, we share it.
However, it turns out that being a little unsettled can be motivating. So, if you are motivated to act on the bad feedback by making changes in your behavior, it is better to focus on what is wrong and to hear it last.”
What is the media trying to motivate its viewers to change in their personality? If something bad happens related to a certain topic and the topics have been recently viral. Then if they report it they make more money. No matter if the police actually do 5 good things compared to 1 bad on a day to day basis, we only hear of the one bad. Why? Because the bad makes more money and the bad influences worse personality creating the influence to create more bad events, which make them more money.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wired-success/201411/why-we-love-bad-news-more-good-news
Why We Love Bad News More Than Good News
Does the current news negativity bias reflect media our public preferences?
PSYCHOLOGYTODAY.COM