You get 10 compliments and 1 criticism and the criticism is the only one you remember when you are going to sleep. Is this universal?

This is something I have noticed in myself too, many times. Positive thinking can feel very unnatural and difficult to do, while negative thoughts occur without any effort. It is always easier to feel sad than happy, let’s explore why.

Studies show that this is a very natural process and that’s how the human brain works. This is called Negativity Bias.

Is it your imagination?

Definitely not. Negative information tends to stay in the front of our brains. It is linked to loss aversion, a cognitive bias that describes why the pain of losing is twice as powerful and intense as the pleasure of gaining. Studies using fMRI have found that the brain responds more strongly to a negative stimulus than to positive ones, even when the events are objectively equal in magnitude. For example, compliment and criticism, same day, same weight, but most people will remember the critic clearly than the compliment.

It’s not a coincidence; it’s just the bias doing its job.

Why would our brains do this on purpose?

Because for most of human history, missing a threat was considered big than missing a reward. Our modern brain is built on a survival mechanism that treats potential harm or threats as urgent matters of life or death, while treating pleasant or positive experiences as extra, optional bonuses. Evolutionarily, it is more critical for survival to ‘avoid’ a ‘harmful’ stimulus than to pursue a potentially helpful one. As a result, feelings like anxiety, fear, or sadness feel more intense and persistent than feeling relaxed or joyful.

It’s not just how you feel it, it’s how you remember it. Negative information gets processed faster and gets prioritized harder, almost automatically, while positive thinking can genuinely feel like a task, because it is; as we are swimming against the natural wiring that evolved to do the negative thinking faster.

This negativity bias may play a role in self-efficacy and our self-esteem. To measure this, Müller-Pinzler and colleagues constructed the “learning of own performance” (LOOP) task, where participants were given direct feedback on their abilities. They found that individuals show a negative bias towards their own feedback, where the criticisms stayed with them strongly and while they listened to others’ feedbacks, they paid equal attention to both positive and negative comments.

So, what do we actually do with this?Notice when it’s happening – While you’re replaying one piece of criticism, ten pieces of praise have already evaporated, that’s not necessarily an accurate read of the situation, that’s just the bias.

Deliberately savour the good stuff – Because positive experiences are more diffuse and easier to lose, especially when we are naturally wired to replay the negative stuff. Instead, sit with the positive ones, so they stay longer or journal them so that you remember.

How can UNSAD Health help you deal with negativity bias?

UNSAD Health uses an integrative approach that combines mindfulness, evidence-based psychology and neuro-somatic techniques to help you regulate the automatic negative reactions that come from negative bias – rather than just trying to “think positive” and override them.

We use:

MBDBT (Mindfulness-Based Dialectical Behavioural Therapy), developed by the clinic’s founder Dr. Syeda Arifa Tasneem, blend mindfulness training with DBT’s emotional regulation skills, building the pause between a negative trigger and your reaction to it, so the bias has less room to act automatically.

EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) and other neuro-somatic methods aim to reduce the emotional blockages attached to the distressing thoughts or memories, addressing why negative experiences tend to stick harder than positive ones.

EAET (Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy) focuses on helping people identify, process and openly express negative emotions rather than suppressing or avoiding them. Since negativity bias means negative emotions tend to get encoded more deeply if they’re left unprocessed, EAET works by giving those emotions a controlled outlet, reducing them resurfacing in an amplified version.

The overall approach isn’t about eliminating the natural bias, but about building enough awareness and emotional regulation that it stops making decisions for you without your input.

Author

I’m Harshita, a Psychology (Honours) student at Christ (Deemed to be) University. I’ve always been genuinely curious about why people think, feel, and behave the way they do, and I love exploring the science behind human behaviour. Right now, I’m focused on building a strong foundation in the field and finding practical, meaningful ways to turn psychological insights into real-world impact.

This article has been reviewed by Dr. Syeda Arifa Tasneem, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist and Founder of UNSAD Health.

The author is currently completing an internship at UNSAD Health.