Negativity Bias and the Media Landscape Exploiting It

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Unless we’re in the media or politics business, politics is usually a subject we avoid in certain company (or at least we’re told we should). After all, starting a dialog with, “How about that Joe Biden, huh?” is a great way to find out your Uncle Ralph who’s been like a father to you your whole life binges on right-wing hate media and believes every conspiracy theory he reads on the internet.

Since 2016, this restraint has abated somewhat, in part because Uncle Ralph finally felt free to let his inner angry troll the rules of common decency previously kept at bay emerge from under the bridge.

Perhaps because of the onslaught of bleak, cortisol-inducing doom and gloom we were perpetually confronted with between the years 2017–2021, or in spite of it, one thing you may have noticed is the tendency toward pessimism, even when confronted with optimistic information.

For example, this summer, a CNN poll reported 51% of respondents felt the economy was getting worse despite obvious economic news to the contrary. Whatever your feelings about polls, that’s a pretty alarming finding. A month later, 58% said Biden’s policies have made economic conditions worse despite the economy being the strongest it’s been in decades. According to a Harris poll, many Americans this fall were unaware of upward economic growth…