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2 VIDEOMAKER >>> JUNE 2019

The negativity bias

Maintaining a positive attitude and an

enthusiastic outlook can be challeng-

ing for creatives. For many of us, the

media we make becomes an exten-

sion of who we are. We pour our

blood, sweat and sometimes tears

into the projects we produce. It can

be diffi cult to separate our art from

our heart. This is one of the best and

worst aspects of being a creative.

When you see yourself as an artist,

and the work that you create as art,

there is a tendency to take any sort of

critical feedback very personally. Over

the course of time, negative com-

ments and criticism can build up and

sap the creative spark from our souls.

Even when we hear positive

remarks and encouragements, we

tend to receive negative remarks with

greater weight and carry them with

us longer and than equally authentic

comments of affi rmation.

It turns out, there is a reason for this.

Psychologists call it a negativity bias.

We need to be aware of its power so

that we can overcome its downward

pull. In short, the concept of a negativ-

ity bias suggests that we are naturally

inclined to believe the bad things we

hear, and discount the good.

In a recent Psychology Today article

titled Our Brain’s Negative Bias, Why

our brains are more highly attuned to

negative news updated on June 2016,

author Hara Estroff Marano purports

that merely having an equal balance

of positive and negative opinions is

not enough. In fact, researchers found

that the negative bias of the brain is

so strong that it takes multiple posi-

tives to offset a single negative.

In a study of married couples, re-

searchers found that, “That magic ra-

tio is fi ve to one. As long as there was

fi ve times as much positive feeling

and interaction between husband and

wife as there was negative, researchers

found, the marriage was likely to be

stable over time.”

Marano points out that these fi nd-

ings are not merely limited to marital

relationships. “Other researchers

have found the same results in other

spheres of our life. It is the frequency

of small positive acts that matters

most, in a ratio of about fi ve to one.”

As creatives, we need to accept, pro-

cess and learn from negative input. This

makes our work better. Yet, in order

to stay motivated and lean into what’s

working well, we also need to make an

effort to receive, contemplate and take

encouragement from positive feedback.

It is worth noting that, when it

comes to critiquing your video pro-

ductions, not all feedback is equal.

Seek out the opinions of persons who

are qualifi ed to offer informed in-

sights. It is also imperative that we fi l-

ter whatever feedback we receive. We

must realize that our own biases may

skew the way we hear and interpret

both positive and negative remarks.

In the end, you have to take the bad

with the good. Just don’t forget to also

take the good with the bad.

VIEWFINDER

by Matthew York

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385 P012a Viewfinder.indd 2 4/23/19 1:53 PM

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