MindfulLogic.org

The Why

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While we are all individuals with different experiences that made us who we are today, there are fundamental sciences that factor in why each of us behave similarly despite our different learning environments.  Our brain has a negativity bias thus we react more often and more intensely to negativity than neutral or positive information.

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In the United States we live in a capitalistic society.  All the freedoms and opportunity we have also come with the challenges of competitiveness which may or may not bode will for many people's personality.  Regardless, any company with shareholders (public or private with investors) each have a fiduciary responsibility, by law, to act in the best interest of those shareholders.

 

Let's say the CFO at Campbell's Soup crunches the numbers and finds that by reducing the amount of product per can from 12 ounces to 10.5 ounces, the company can make $X millions more per year.  Knowing that they can make more money by implementing this change, they are now obligated by law to make that change.  However, the CFO could opt to not make the reduction per can as long as he/she could quantify the soft-dollar savings in doing so.  Most often, this cannot be accurately measured.  Hence, the reduction in product.

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Now let's take an applicable example to our problem.  The media, public or private companies, get paid by advertisers.  Advertisers buy ad space based on potential number of views, or, impressions in the digital world.  A print magazine that has 50,000 subscribers can charge 10 times the price for an ad than a print magazine with 5,000 subscribers.  In our digital world, the more impressions, or views, a page has, the more money it can change for ad space on the webpage.

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So what sells?  Simply.....negativity.

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Our brains react 5 times more faster and with more attention to negative news than to positive news.  Knowing this, media companies capitalize on it.  ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, you name it; are all NOT about delivering you (just the) news.  They have one job:  to get the most eyes on their channel, website, or print media in order to sell ads at the highest price based on that view rate.

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What do media companies use to get your attention? .....Shocking Headlines & Clickbait.

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Interested in some examples and psychology behind this tactical behavioral scam?

• Headlines and the psychology behind them

• Psychology of Clickbait

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Bottom Line:

Your brain is exposed to negativity by the media by a gigantic margin over any positive news.  The more time you listen and watch the news or flick through social 'media', the more your brain is being conditioned on a subconscious level to internalize this way of thinking.  It then manifests itself in relationships, self-image, depression, decision making, spending habits, etc, creating a life of unhappiness and even suffering.

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