Choice/Negative psychology
Positive vs negative emotions
The term negative psychology is used in contrast to positive psychology to make a clear distinction between what might be considered unhealthy or inappropriate human behavior and to help create a clearer direction or path toward a healthier, more appropriate, and positive lifestyle. Understanding what doesn’t work can help us identify what works better. So, it is important to be open to learning both. For example, if we know that a particular approach to a problem is not effective, we can avoid that path and try a different approach. Similarly, if we know that a particular behavior is not helpful, we can try to change it. However, it is important to note that focusing only on the negative can be counterproductive. It is important to also focus on the positive and what works. This can help us build on our strengths and find solutions that work for us. In fact, research suggests that focusing on positive emotions can have a range of benefits, including improved well-being, better relationships, and increased resilience. Supporting the positive, living the light can help in the darkest of places.
NEGATIVE psychology
Negative emotion
Negative emotions are very much the same as negative bias, addressed under the negative reasoning page. As stated therein, negative bias is a natural human behavior. We tend to remember the negative events in life better than the positive or to see the concerns better than the positive options, etc. The suggestion is that negative bias was likely a genetic evolutionary trait that might have come about through avoiding the many obstacles and problems one might have encountered in the wild. Life is full of challenges to overcome. Some of those challenges as we grow involve experiencing negative circumstances in our developmental years that we were not necessarily fully equipped or prepared to manage. Negative and positive experiences vary considerably from one person to the next. So, for some, that negativity might have accumulated as a stack of negative events and emotions encountered in the process of development. Some of us struggled to learn a little more than others. Some of us had parents who had a harder lifestyle than other parents. Some parents were really good at teaching their children all they needed to know for life, while others struggled to have that knowledge and experience. All of that from the negative side for some was an accumulation of unpleasant experiences that can impact and create a negative worldview that could potentially impact our personality and development, resulting in negative affectivity that impacts a range of negative emotions, including anger, contempt, disgust, guilt, fear, and nervousness. One’s perspective on life can be influenced by the environment they grow up in. So, a person who grows up in darkness may see the world as a dark and hopeless place and have a pessimistic attitude. However, having a negative view of life often makes it harder to follow a positive path. Therefore, parents should try to provide their children with a bright and supportive environment that fosters their growth and development. However, some parents may not know how to do this, especially if they were raised in difficult circumstances themselves. As a result, they may lack the skills, knowledge, and confidence that are essential for raising successful children. So, one can imagine if life is growing up in darkness, one might see the world as a dark place with a pessimistic frame of mind or outlook on life.
Habits are formed in the developmental process as we repeat behaviors similarly multiple times. The more we encounter similar situations while repeating the same behaviors, the more likely we are to develop stronger habit loops until the situation automatically triggers the learned behavior as a reliable habit. We have all encountered the person who, when confronted with a perceived negative automatically retaliates with ad hominem fallacy against the person who brought up the negative instead of addressing the argument or premise. When listening to Trump’s ad hominem attacks on the person instead of addressing the premise, those comments about “Crooked Hillary, ” Ted Cruz’s wife, Muslims, etc., one can imagine his mother saying to little Donald, Yes, they are all bad people. And that might have had something to do with a perceived threat from the outside toward the 23-room "Gone with the Wind mansion,” in Queens, New York that spoke to the emotional reasoning behind “Mexicans are rapists”? When we were growing up, most of us were not taught the difference between addressing the argument and not the subject or person presenting the argument. And because we didn't know what to say in response to an accusation or a negative, we might have learned to develop a habit of attacking the person because that is where the perceived negative originated. And that behavior does not require a lot of positive creative ideas. Moreover, the parent observing their child's negative experience in reference to any threat is likely to empathize with the child's response without necessarily spending time to explain the importance of appropriate sound reasoning. Indeed, many adults never recognize the many fallacies of reason and resort to the same behaviors themselves. So many fallacies of reason were learned in childhood and carried into adulthood with a little more sophistication as we aged. Negative habitual behaviors can be difficult to break, but it is possible to overcome them through various interventions such as cognitive restructuring, mindfulness, and positive psychology interventions.
Negative feelings about oneself can also arise from negative self-talk, which can lead to low self-esteem and a decreased ability to see opportunities. Negative self-talk can take many forms, including alk, negative assumptions, negative comparison with others, negative rumination about the past, disempowering beliefs about difficult people, the desire to blame, the struggle to forgive oneself, the fear of failure and making mistakes, and more.
Studies have shown that a negative family environment can lead to a negative bias in children. According to a study by Springer, children who are repeatedly exposed to inter-parental conflict that is accompanied by negative behavior between parents, such as hostility, violence, and unresolved problems, may develop negative biases towards others.
In addition, a study by You Are Mom suggests that a negative family environment can cause anguish and suffering or limit the good functioning of the family members. This can be very negative and stimulating for children, leading to negative biases.
There is evidence that negativity can accumulate from multiple negative circumstances in childhood. According to a study by the Mayo Clinic Health System, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are negative events in a child’s life that can have lasting effects on health and well-being. The study found that in situations of prolonged childhood trauma, a child’s brain, and body will produce an overload of stress hormones that can harm the function and structure of the brain. Childhood trauma can lead to the adult onset of chronic diseases, such as heart disease, depression, drug abuse, violence, and being a victim of violence.
In summary, childhood development that has a negative impact on a person can influence their life and livelihood impacting happiness, communication with others, and outlook on life. Therefore, having a full understanding of what impacted a person's life early on is essential for understanding our own difficulties in life as well as those difficulties that others encountered. The bottom line is that blaming someone else for problems that originated in the person often do not help with learning the most appropriate behaviors.
NEGATIVE BIAS foundation
Negative bias and systemic genetic factors
Negative bias is a cognitive bias that refers to our tendency to focus more on negative experiences than positive ones. It means that we tend to register negative stimuli more readily and dwell on them longer than positive ones. This bias is also known as positive-negative asymmetry.
Negative bias, research has shown that genetics can play a role in the development of negative bias. Additionally, the fight, flight, freeze, and fawn responses are physiological reactions to threats that can contribute to negative bias. These responses are neurobiological reactions to danger and are traditionally known as fight, flight, and freeze (sometimes called collapse). The fawn response is a fourth possible response that emerged in trauma discussions.
The thinking brain (neo-cortex) is often automatically dominated by the mid-brain (in particular, the amygdala) during moments of fear. This means that the mid-brain goes on high alert and signals the sympathetic nervous system to release chemicals to prepare the body for fight or flight. If it is not possible to escape or fight, the limbic system then engages the parasympathetic nervous system to initiate a freeze or collapse response in the body, resulting in immobilization, restricted breathing, and decreased metabolism. In humans, freeze reactions may include psychological dissociation.
To overcome negativity bias, it’s important to start paying attention to the type of thoughts that run through your mind and reframe the situation by talking positively about events, experiences, and people. Establishing new patterns can also help overcome negativity bias.
Research has shown that people tend to pay more attention to negative events than positive ones, learn more from negative outcomes and experiences, and make decisions based on negative information more than positive data. This bias can influence motivation to complete a task, making people less motivated when an incentive is framed as a means to gain something than when the same incentive will help them avoid the loss of something.
The negativity bias can have a significant impact on our lives. It explains why bad first impressions can be so difficult to overcome and why past traumas can have such long-lasting effects. It also explains why we tend to remember traumatic experiences better than positive ones, recall insults better than praise, react more strongly to negative stimuli, think about negative things more frequently than positive ones, and respond more strongly to negative events than to equally positive ones.
To overcome negativity bias, it’s important to start paying attention to the type of thoughts that run through your mind and reframe the situation by talking positively about events, experiences, and people. Establishing new patterns can also help overcome negativity bias.
Self-centered egoism
Self-centered-centered studies
Egoism is the motive to act in one’s own interest. Someone who is behaving egoistically is simply pursuing his or her own goals as we do. A motive is egoistic when it’s focused on what I want.
Nearly all human problems are the consequence of greed that includes population leading to negative consequences for oneself and others resulting in corruption, injustice, violence, and environmental degradation.
(Click here) to consequences associated with greed.
While Western religions focus on changing one’s nature through faith and moral commandments, Eastern religions aim to reduce self-preoccupation and promote a less egoic world. Both approaches have their own merits and can be effective in their own ways.
I personally observed that self-help programs were mostly focused on helping oneself, which may seem like a “dah” observation as it takes a better understanding of oneself before a person can truly help others. But “for the people, by the people” is a one-for-all-and-all-for-one concept, not “every man for himself”. And the only true way of benefiting both humans and the environment is developing a holistic view of both while letting go of self-absorption.
GROUP DYNAMICS
Group Behavior
Herd Mentality, Deindividuation, Mob behavior
Herd Mentality, Deindividuation, Mob behavior
According to Wikipedia, sociology and social psychology, an ingroup is a social group to which a person psychologically identifies as being a member. By contrast, an out-group is a social group with which an individual does not identify. People may find it psychologically meaningful to view themselves according to their race, culture, gender, age, or religion. People tend to hold positive attitudes towards members of their own groups, a phenomenon known as in-group bias. So that those who are different and not in the in-group may be viewed as "outsiders" or the out-group. Ingroup and outgroup behaviors can significantly impact and reinforce our personal cognitive or negative biases and influence our outlook on life and how we perceive others and other groups of people, mainly those who are perceived as different than us. Visualizing out-groups as either different or a shared threat, a “common enemy”, is the primary emotional response driven by fear. The classic Robbers Cave experiment by Sherif studied intergroup conflict and cooperation among 22 boys in Oklahoma. He found that introducing competitive tasks led to hostility between groups, but introducing superordinate goals that required intergroup cooperation reduced the conflict and increased positive attitudes. So, finding ways to get people to work together on community-wide projects that require the participation of opposing groups like political parties can help positive attitudes.
It is true that our leaders can significantly impact and reinforce our perception of differences or negative bias promoting division. Division, of course, is not teamwork or learning to work cooperatively. So clearly voting for leaders who support positive cooperation makes much more rational sense than voting for leaders who promote division. However, it is important to note that we have the power to change our own biases by paying attention to the type of thoughts that run through our mind and reframing the situation by talking positively about events, experiences, and people. Establishing new patterns can also help overcome negativity bias.
Herd Mentality, Deindividuation, Mob behavior
Herd Mentality, Deindividuation, Mob behavior
Herd Mentality, Deindividuation, Mob behavior
According to Wikipedia, herd mentality (also known as mob or pack mentality) describes how people can be influenced by the majority. Social psychologists study the related topics of group intelligence, crowd wisdom, groupthink, and deindividuation. Deindividuation is a psychological phenomenon that occurs when people lose their sense of individual identity and become part of a group. This can lead to a loss of self-awareness and self-control, which can result in impulsive or antisocial behaviors. Deindividuation can occur in various settings, such as crowds, online communities, and group therapy sessions. According to the social identity model of deindividuation effects (SIDE), anonymity and reduced presence can make communication technology socially impoverished or “deindividuated”. It’s important to note that deindividuation is a complex issue that can have both positive and negative consequences, depending on the context. Deindividuation is a phenomenon where a person’s identity with a group overrides their own identity and self-awareness which can lead to a mob mentality because deindividuation tends to overide critical thinking and dissent. Deindividuation theory was developed to explain the violence and irrationality of the crowd. Classic examples of deindividuation can include the formation and operation of gangs, cults, and large mobs of people who are unified by a governing set of beliefs or a code of conduct, similar political party differences, and war between national groups.
Resistance to change
Personal and group resistance
The psychological term for resistance to change is psychological resistance. It is a phenomenon that is often encountered in clinical practice in which patients either directly or indirectly exhibit paradoxical opposing behaviors in presumably a clinically initiated push and pull of a change process. Trait resistance refers to the stable tendency to resist change or challenge, regardless of the situation or the content of therapy.
It’s generally a law of physics, Will Smith suggested in the documentary “Amend.” “For every reaction, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” That is the law of physics. So, they addressed in the documentary the reaction to the 14th Amendment with statutes of confederacy, laws opposing education for people of color, and the Jim Crow era, that brought about Brown vs the Board of Education and the civil unrest of the '60s. All these reactions are consistent with resistance to change.
Resistance to change can manifest in various ways and is often associated with several problematic areas, including personality traits, life stories, or the current situation, because we tend to cling to our belief systems, even when presented with a more efficient solution.
Kurt Lewin observed in his groundbreaking book Frontiers in Group Dynamics in the 1940s that any attempt to bring about change inside a group is really an attempt to break a habit, which by definition presents a barrier. In essence, we are trying to change both a habit and a cognitive mindset, which is resistant and opposing our cognitive bias or cognitive mindset. So, overcoming resistance involves changing a habit and making the change socially acceptable while our personal history creates a negative bias that carries with it a genetic predisposition. Scientists believe that your brain has a built-in “negativity bias,” suggesting that genetically, we are predisposed to develop habits of reacting to the snake or the opposing tribe more than we might be searching for ways to remain at peace.
How often have you encountered the response "We tried that before, and it didn’t work" when suggesting an alternative approach while looking at the problem from a different perspective might be all that is needed to recognize a different solution. There is a universe of things that we are not aware of and haven’t considered. Sometimes asking for a solution before going to bed might bring an answer in a hypnopompic phase of waking, or letting the problem sit on the shelf might bring an answer down the road. Ghandi demonstrated that with an idea that many thought was an absurd notion (walking to the sea to create salt). With that idea he helped bring independence to India.
Resistance to change
Facing truth becomes harder as we create more problems
Confronting the truth can be challenging, but it’s essential for growth and understanding. Facing uncomfortable realities often leads to personal development and positive change. While reading below, do you feel a desire to oppose, deny, leave, blame, or avoid facing?
Adding more children to the world can be a problem for the world.
Having fun with gasoline toys or vehicles is a problem for the world.
We created some of the reasons for people to migrate, which resulted in immigration problems.
Making and supporting weapons of war creates war and harms people.
We are the reason for some of the diseases and epidemics in the world.
We are harming wildlife and the earth.
We create our unhappiness and dissatisfaction.
Single-use plastics is polluting the oceans and harming marine life.
Deforestation is leading to the loss of biodiversity and contributing to climate change.
Fossil fuels is accelerating global warming, causing extreme weather events.
Industrial agriculture is depleting soil health, reducing the nutritional value of our food.
Economic inequality creates social unrest and limits opportunities for many people.
Our fast-paced lifestyles are contributing to mental health issues and stress.
Misinformation and fake news are eroding trust in institutions and dividing people.
Choosing groups for support of selfish reasons to avoid facing the truth complicates and exacerbates our problems.
Negative groupthink CONFORMITY
Groupthink
People may join groups or organizations in search of identity, affirmation, or a sense of social connection. They might also experience peer pressure to follow group norms or worry about being punished or shunned if they disagree, even if the group's objectives are immoral or illogical. Once that person joins the group, they could grow more devoted to the group and become loyal members. When faced with facts that defy the opinions of the group, they could choose to ignore it or reject it and justify their behavior as serving the greater good. Groupthink can result in poor decisions, lost opportunities, or moral transgressions or moral violations.
Groupthink can occur in a variety of settings, including business, politics, and social groups. The problematic or premature consensus that is characteristic of groupthink may be fueled by a particular agenda—or it may be due to group members valuing harmony and coherence above critical thought. Groups that prioritize their group identity and behave coldly toward “outsiders” (outgroup behavior) may be more likely to fall victim to groupthink. Organizations where dissent is discouraged or openly punished are similarly likely to engage in groupthink when making decisions. High stress is another root cause, as is time pressure that demands a fast decision. Even in minor cases, groupthink triggers decisions that aren’t ideal or ignore critical information. In highly consequential domains—like politics or the military—groupthink can have much worse consequences, leading groups to ignore ethics or morals, prioritize one specific goal while ignoring discussed countless collateral consequences, or, at worst, instigate death and destruction. To minimize the risk of groupthink, it’s critical to allow enough time for issues to be fully discussed, and for as many group members as possible to share their thoughts. When dissent is encouraged, groupthink is less likely to occur.
voting RIGHTS are human rights
Voter suppression, disrespect and human rights
If you ask artificial intelligence if voting is a human right? A.I. will respond;
The right to vote is considered one of the most fundamental human rights and civil liberties. Voter suppression has been a part of the United States political scene since the nation’s inception. From Jim Crow laws to the gutting of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, citizens of the United States, particularly communities of color, have been disenfranchised in blatant and subtle ways.
After the Civil War, three amendments – the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, part of Congressional Reconstruction – were passed, designed to ensure equality for African Americans in the South. The 13th Amendment, ratified in 1865, abolished slavery and indentured servitude. The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, gave African Americans “equal protection under the laws.” However, it wasn’t until the 15th Amendment, ratified in 1870, that states were prohibited from “from disenfranchising voters ‘on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.’” The 15th Amendment did not provide automatic voting rights for African Americans. Congress did not provide enforcement for the 15th Amendment immediately. Tennessee was the last state to formally ratify the amendment in 1997.
Voting rights were also denied for those convicted of crimes through felon disenfranchisement laws. By 1870, 28 states had adopted a version of these laws prohibiting convicted felons from voting.
Poll taxes were another form of voter suppression that continued into the 20th century. Poll taxes were fees that voters had to pay before they could vote. These fees disproportionately affected poor people and people of color.
Other forms of voter suppression include literacy tests and all-white primaries .
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was a landmark piece of legislation that outlawed many common voter suppression tactics and created federal oversight of states and localities with histories of voter discrimination. The act gave Black women, Native Americans, and immigrants the legal right to vote.
Despite these efforts to combat voter suppression, it remains a problem today. In recent years, voter ID laws have been enacted in many states that disproportionately affect communities of color. And, in 2013, the Supreme Court struck down Section 4 of the act, which contained the coverage formula that determined which jurisdictions were subject to preclearance based on their histories of discrimination in voting.
For the sake of the record, voter suppression or restrictions are not a democratic way of finding a way to count every eligible voter. To review up-to-date voting concerns read CONFORMITY AND GROUPTHINK, political group think or go to the Brennan Center for Justice.
Voter Suppression (recent)
Brennan center for Justice 2023
Voting Laws Roundup: June 2023 | Brennan Center for Justice
Brennan center for Justice 2022
Voting Laws Roundup: December 2022 | Brennan Center for Justice .
Brennan center for Justice 2021
Voting Laws Roundup: December 2021 | Brennan Center for Justice
Brennan center for Justice 2020
Voting Laws Roundup 2020 | Brennan Center for Justice
Voter Suppression in the U.S.
Wikipedia
Voter suppression in the United States - Wikipedia
Brennan Center for Justice
Vote Suppression | Brennan Center for Justice
ACLU
Block the Vote: How Politicians are Trying to Block Voters from the Ballot Box | ACLU
League of Women Voters
Fighting Voter Suppression | League of Women Voters (lwv.org)
Video "Amend," the History OF VOTING rights
History: Fighting for the right to vote
This video is an excellent resource for understanding the history of the fight for voting rights and the opposition. Watch all 6 episodes.
Blame
Blaming of others
Blame and tit-for-tat behaviors can create a cycle of negativity and conflict, whether in personal relationships or professional settings.
According to psychology's fundamental attribution error theory, people tend to overemphasize dispositional or personality-based explanations for behaviors observed in others while underemphasizing situational explanations. This cognitive bias is also known as correspondence bias or over-attribution effect. It is a natural human tendency that can be observed in children as young as three years old. However, it is essential for parents to teach their children to take responsibility for their actions and to avoid blaming others. Children who are taught to take responsibility for their actions are more likely to grow up into responsible adults who can take ownership of their mistakes and learn from errors while those who have not fully understood responsibility may lean toward blaming others for whatever goes wrong in life. Fundamental Attribution Error - Ethics Unwrapped (utexas.edu)
According to an article in Psychology Today, children may project blame onto their parents to protect themselves from difficult feelings. When children experience failure, they can feel bad and shameful, and then blaming others can be a way to deflect these emotions. Children may blame their parents because they trust them to solve all their problems and prevent all pain.
Blaming is a natural human tendency that can be observed in children as young as three years old. It is a way for children to cope with their emotions and avoid taking responsibility for their actions. However, it is essential for parents to teach their children to take responsibility for their actions and to avoid blaming others. Children who are taught to take responsibility for their actions are more likely to grow up into responsible adults who can take ownership of their mistakes and learn from them.
Ripples across the world
Discrimination, respect and war
Discrimination is the unfair or prejudicial treatment of people and groups based on characteristics such as race, gender, age, or sexual orientation . It can take many forms, including verbal abuse, physical violence, and exclusion from opportunities. Discrimination can lead to negative emotional responses such as distress, sadness, and anger, and can often lead to an increase in behaviors that harm health, such as alcohol, tobacco, and other substance use.
Respect for people is the act of treating others with dignity and recognizing their inherent worth 2. It is important because it promotes positive relationships between individuals and groups. When respect is absent, it can lead to rejection, discrimination, abuse, and ultimately genocide.
It is important to note that discrimination is a public health issue. Finding healthy ways to deal with discrimination is important for your physical health and your mental well-being. Focusing on your core values, beliefs, and perceived strengths can motivate people to succeed and may even buffer the negative effects of bias.
If you are experiencing discrimination or know someone who is, there are resources available to help. The American Psychological Association provides information on how to cope with discrimination.
The trauma of war can have a profound impact on individuals and communities. People who experience war may develop mental health problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety. These conditions can lead to long-term health problems and can affect the ability of individuals to function effectively in their daily lives.
The effects of war trauma can also ripple across society. Exposure to violent images and videos through social media can have an immense psychological impact on people, even if they are thousands of miles away from the conflict. Children who are exposed to war may experience developmental delays, behavioral problems, and difficulty in school. War can also lead to displacement of people from their homes, destruction of infrastructure, and loss of life. The impact of war can be felt for generations, as communities struggle to rebuild and recover from the damage caused by conflict.
It is important to recognize the impact of war on individuals and communities. Organizations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross provide medical care and support to victims of war. If you or someone you know is experiencing the effects of war trauma, there are resources available to help. The National Center for PTSD provides information on how to cope with PTSD
Human Rights
U.N. Human rights
Human rights violations are actions that infringe on the basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled. These rights include, but are not limited to, the right to life, liberty, and security of person; freedom from torture and slavery; freedom of thought, conscience, and religion; and the right to work and education.
Human rights violations can take many forms, including discrimination, torture, arbitrary detention, extrajudicial killings, and forced disappearances. These violations can be committed by individuals or groups, including governments, non-state actors, and corporations.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was established in response to the atrocities during WWII, including the Holocaust. The document outlines the human rights that all people are entitled to such as freedom from torture, freedom of expression, and the right to seek asylum. When those rights aren’t protected or blatantly disregarded, they are violated.
Human rights violations can have serious consequences for individuals and communities. They can lead to physical harm, emotional trauma, and long-term health problems. They can also undermine social cohesion and trust in institutions.
Preventing human rights violations is a key part of the United Nations’ efforts to protect and promote human rights for all. If you or someone you know is experiencing human rights violations, there are resources available to help. The United Nations provides information on how to report human rights abuses.
Global sources of information about violence
Global sources
- World Health Organization (WHO): The WHO has published a comprehensive report on violence and health that provides an in-depth analysis of the problem of violence on a global scale. The report covers the different faces of violence, the factors that lead to violence, and the possible responses of different sectors of society1.
- Global status report on violence prevention 2014: This report assesses national efforts to address interpersonal violence, namely child maltreatment, youth violence, intimate partner and sexual violence, and elder abuse. It reflects data from 133 countries.
- Injuries and violence fact sheet: This fact sheet provides an overview of the impact of injuries and violence on public health. It covers the different types of injuries and violence, their causes, and their consequences3.
- Violence against children fact sheet: This fact sheet provides information on the prevalence of violence against children, its causes, and its impact on children’s health and well-being.
Since the dawn of civilization, harm and violence have been a part of human history. The rise of cities and the development of complex societies have brought about new forms of violence and harm. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, urban warfare is not a new phenomenon; cities have featured as a stage for violence since humans began building them.
In recent years, there has been an increase in violent crime across the United States. According to a report by the Brennan Center for Justice, violent crime and some types of property crime rose across the country in 2020 in communities of all types2. However, data from the FBI and other sources suggests that those trends slowed in 20212.
It’s important to note that violence and harm can take many forms, including physical, emotional, and psychological. It can be perpetrated by individuals or groups and can be directed towards individuals or entire communities. While violence and harm are complex issues that cannot be solved overnight, it’s important to work towards creating a safer and more peaceful world for everyone.