Positivity effect
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.
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.[1]
In attribution
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.
In perception
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.[2][3]
According to the research recorded by Dan Zarella, the more positive a person is on social media, the more followers they will get because "users become less engaged when content on their feed becomes more negative" (Lee 1). So, when someone posts a lot of positive things, it makes people want to be a part of their social media presence. People on social media seek out positivity.[4]
See also
Notes
- Salgado, Sinué; Berntsen, Dorthe (2019-04-29). "My future is brighter than yours: the positivity bias in episodic future thinking and future self-images". Psychological Research. 84 (7): 1829–1845. doi:10.1007/s00426-019-01189-z. ISSN 0340-0727.
- Ferrara, Emilio; Yang, Zeyao (2015). "Measuring Emotional Contagion in Social Media". PLoS ONE. 10 (1): e0142390. arXiv:1506.06021. Bibcode:2015PLoSO..1042390F. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0142390. PMC 4636231. PMID 26544688.
- Ferrara, Emilio; Yang, Zeyao (2015). "Quantifying the effect of sentiment on information diffusion in social media". PeerJ Computer Science. 1: e26. arXiv:1506.06072. Bibcode:2015arXiv150606072F. doi:10.7717/peerj-cs.26. S2CID 14133100.
- "Want to Improve Your Social Media Sharing? Harness the Power of Positivity in Social Media". Business 2 Community. 16 October 2014. Retrieved 2019-03-21.
References
Dictionaries and encyclopedias
- 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 978-0199534067.
Papers
- 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.