You’re Human, Of Course You Have a Negative Bias.

by | Sep 18, 2024

Tips to help combat your built-in defense of assuming the worst.

The negative bias we have as human beings is an evolutionary function we developed eons ago to help us survive in the wild. Our ancestors became acutely attuned to possible threats in their environment so they could quickly react if needed.

Imagine it’s thousands of years ago and you’re sitting around a fire with your tribe when suddenly you hear a stick snapping in the forest behind you. In this instance, you could think ‘that could be a sign of danger, I better get up and grab my spear’ or ‘that’s probably just my mate collecting firewood, no need to react’. Regardless of what is actually true, it seems that the ancestors who presumed threat (in other words had a negative bias) were the ones who ended up more likely to survive.

As modern day humans, this negative bias still reigns and leads us to put a much stronger emphasis on the negative rather than the positive. We remember offensive comments over compliments, we dwell on traumatic events over pleasant experiences, we get stuck on preparing for worst case scenarios and we assume negative outcomes over positive ones.

Now imagine you’re at a dinner party telling a story and someone you don’t know very well scoffs and pulls an expression that looks like disgust. I bet you’re more likely to think ‘they think my story is stupid and that I am too’ instead of ‘they ate too fast and have some food stuck in their throat’. This is an example of negative bias today that is in no way crucial to your survival, but it sure does it make your life more miserable.

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n today’s world, negative bias has turned into a common way in which we self-sabotage. It leads us to ruminate and have anxious, judgemental thoughts which in turn affects our behaviour and how we show up in the world. This survival mechanism has ultimately become more like an auto-immune disease where ironically we are now a real threat to ourselves.

Step 1: A Practice of Awareness

To combat negative bias and it’s resulting rumination and anxiety, you first need to be aware that it’s happening. The people who have an ongoing practice of self-awareness, are the ones who are instantaneously aware when they’re engaging in negative bias. And the sooner you are aware of this mindset, the more efficiently you can move out of it.

To build a habit of self-awareness I recommend starting with a simple structure of ‘forced’ self check-ins. These check-ins could be once or twice a day at a regular time – for example when you brush your teeth (habit stacking!). Or you could have more regular checkins through the day (say every hour) that are short but sweet. If you want to try this, I recommend downloading something like the mindfulness bell app to help get you into a rhythm. During these checkins, simply observe what you are feeling, thinking and doing. If any of these thoughts, emotions or behaviours are unhelpful, you can ask what might help you to change them.

Step 2: Neutralise The Threat

Secondly, you need to neutralise the negativity swiftly. This will require you to turn harmful rumination into helpful reflection and in order to do this you will need to choose a more positive viewpoint. This will likely feel unnatural or uncomfortable so remind yourself that this is just an activity to help change the messages you are sending your brain so that you can stop the spread of self-sabotage. And remember, this is not about becoming toxically positive, this is about neutralising unhelpful negativity by engaging with objective, realistic and optimistic thoughts.

Let’s say I just gave a presentation and I can’t stop thinking about the sour look one of the clients had on their face. While they didn’t actually give any critiques and accepted the creative direction presented, I am now telling myself that they aren’t happy with the work and think I’m bad at my job. As I continue to ruminate I have now convinced myself that tomorrow they are going to fire me and tell everyone they know never to work with my agency.

This situation obviously requires some neturalisation. You can do this by first thinking through other reasons for the sour look. Maybe this person wasn’t thinking about your presentation at all and instead they themselves were ruminating about a previous encounter. Or maybe the sour look is simply the expression they have on their face when they are concentrating. Remind yourself of the feedback they did give and believe that their acceptance of your ideas was honest. If you have a gut feeling that something is off, you could reach out and ask for some more feedback or talk it through with your colleagues or trusted advisors. Shifting perspective is crucial here so think through what has previously helped you to change your perceptions and see things differently.

Step 3: Shake it off

Thirdly, you have to get closure and move on. You may need to repeat step two multiple times until the negative thought patterns stop recurring. That’s perfectly normal. However, even after the negative thoughts recede, you may still need to release the emotion the negativity has generated. You may still feel anxious, self-conscious, shameful, fearful, frustrated, sad, disappointed etc. Like many animals in the animal kingdom, we need to shake this energy off – think of how dogs literally shake their bodies after a scuffle in the dog park. This is them releasing their emotional energy and this is what you need to do too.

Releasing emotional energy can take so many forms and I’ll bet you naturally engage in many of these already. The trick is to engage consciously. That is, engage with the activity with the intention of shifting your energetic state, give it meaning. Think about what has helped you in the past or ask yourself what activities you are naturally drawn to. If you’re stuck, see below for some options to experiment with.

  • Movement: Anything from high impact to low intensity depending on your emotional state. For example, emotions like anger or frustration will be best worked through with higher intensity movement like cardio and emotions like shame or sadness are best released through lower intensity movement like yoga.
  • Sensory activities: observing what you can see, hear, smell, taste, touch in the moment is a calming activity. Or, intentionally engaging with your senses can also be therapeutic. Such as looking at photos of people you love, listening to music, lighting some incense or essential oil diffuser, eating delicious food, wrapping yourself in a soft blanket.
  • Mindfulness: Breathwork and meditation are powerful, so are practices like stream of consciousness writing or journaling
  • Speech: Talking things through in a safe space with a trusted individual who won’t stoke the emotional fire but instead help you to put it out.
  • Creative Expression: Cook, paint, dance, play, make music or simply engage in a hobby that brings you joy.