Contents

Positivity effect

For the psychological effect in older adults, see Socioemotional selectivity theory.

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The positivity effect is the ability to constructively analyze a situation where the desired results are not achieved, but still obtain positive feedback that assists one's future progression.

Empirical research findings suggest that the positivity effect can be influenced by internal positive speech, where engaging in constructive self-dialogue can significantly improve one’s ability to perceive and react to challenging situations more optimistically.^[1]

The findings of a study show that the optimism bias in future-oriented thinking fulfils a self-improvement purpose while also suggesting this bias probably reflects a common underpinning motivational process across various future-thinking domains, either episodic or semantic.^[2]

The positivity effect as an attribution phenomenon relates to the habits and characteristics of people when evaluating the causes of their behaviors. To positively attribute is to be open to attributing a person’s inherent disposition as the cause of their positive behaviors, and the situations surrounding them as the potential cause of their negative behaviors.

Two studies by Emilio Ferrara have shown that, on online social networks like Twitter and Instagram, users prefer to share positive news, and are emotionally affected by positive news more than twice as much as they are by negative news.^[3][4]

• List of biases in judgment and decision making
• List of memory biases
• Optimism bias
• Pollyanna principle
• Positivity offset
• Rosy retrospection
• Self-serving bias
• Toxic positivity
• Wishful thinking

• Hoorens, Vera (2014). "Positivity Bias". Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research. Springer Netherlands. pp. 4938–4941. doi:10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_2219. ISBN 978-94-007-0752-8.
• Colman, Andrew M (2008). "Positivity Bias". A Dictionary of Psychology (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-953406-7.

• Taylor, S.E.; Koivumaki, J.H. (1976). "The perception of self and others: Acquaintanceship, affect and actor-observer differences". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 33 (4): 403–408. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.33.4.403. PMID 1271218.
• Winquist, Lynn A.; Mohr, Cynthia D.; Kenny, David A. (1998). "The Female Positivity Effect in the Perception of Others". Journal of Research in Personality. 32 (3): 370–388. doi:10.1006/jrpe.1998.2221.
• Mezulis, A. H.; Abramson, L. Y.; Hyde, J. S.; Hankin, B. L. (2004). "Is there a universal positivity bias in attributions? A meta-analytic review of individual, developmental, and cultural differences in the self-serving attributional bias". Psychological Bulletin. 130 (5): 711–747. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.130.5.711. PMID 15367078.