University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

The predictions of what emotions people think they will feel after making some decision. This affects the decision people make.

Expected emotions

Humans have a tendency to focus on the negative. For example, we focus more on potential threats than benefits.

Negativity bias

Goldstein, E. B. (2014). Cognitive psychology: Connecting mind, research and everyday experience. Nelson Education.


Cognitive psychology: Connecting mind, research and everyday experience

Risk aversion

People tend to share bad news with others more than good news.

Negativity bias and news

People have stronger emotional responses to negative feedback than to positive feedback.

Negativity bias and feedback

Animals have heightened perception when it comes to feeling effects such as pain, danger, or failure. The avoidance of these threats, increases the chances of suvival and thus that the animal passes on its genes. 

Bad is felt more than good

If given the option, people tend to try to avoid losses more than achieve gains. This is a factor that contributes to how humans are not perfectly rational economic agents.

Loss aversion

Humans are more likely to think that a negatively phrased statement is true than a positively phrased one when the content is the same. 

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