As mentioned before, a key goal of Happy Thinking is to recognise and change unhelpful thoughts. To help you recognise unhelpful thoughts in yourself, I will describe common ones that people have.
On this page, I will describe a widespread type of unhelpful thought that people have, which psychologists call the “negativity effect.” Understanding it is essential, as it may lead to a low mood if one does not challenge and change it.
Let us now understand the negativity effect. In one’s day-to-day life, one faces various events. Some of these events may be considered “negative” (e.g., losing an expensive mobile phone), while others may be regarded as “positive” (e.g., being told that there will be a salary increase at work). Unfortunately, the human mind can tend to exaggerate negative events while minimising positive events. For example, the person may excessively focus on the negative event of losing the mobile phone, while mostly ignoring the “happy” event of receiving a salary increase.
This type of unhelpful thought, where one exaggerates the negative while minimising the positive, can make one feel that things are worse than they actually are, as positive events that could counteract the negativity are overlooked. Psychologists call this kind of unhelpful thought “the negativity effect”.
A more “helpful” way to think would be to see both the positive and negative events in a more balanced way. Perhaps thinking, “Yes, it’s upsetting that I lost my expensive mobile phone, but on the brighter side, I got a nice salary raise at work”.
Here is another short example of the “negativity effect”.
Joe was to take an early morning flight, but unfortunately, because he forgot to set his alarm, he left very late for the airport. At the airport, the ticketing personnel conveyed the bad news to Joe that he had missed his flight. However, fortunately for Joe, a sympathetic senior manager at the airline felt sorry for him and issued a free ticket for a flight departing for his destination just a few hours later.
While waiting for the next flight, Joe focused solely on the negative event of missing his flight rather than appreciating the positivity of the free ticket given to him for the next flight. He kept telling himself how unlucky he was to have forgotten to set his alarm clock while downplaying the good fortune of having a sympathetic airport worker who was able to help him in a big way. The excessive focus on the negative event made him unnecessarily sad about his situation.
As you have seen, the negativity effect can cause unnecessary unhappiness. It’s essential to recognise and change such thoughts when they happen to you. As you proceed through this website, I will explain other unhelpful thoughts that people commonly have and share with you psychological tools you can use to change them.