The impact of bad news. As we watch the final days before the American election with horrible fascination, we ask ourselves: how did a country like the United States get here? How did the Republican candidate get to be so popular when he promotes so much hate and fear? There are many answers to this question, as the issues are complex. For example: the impact of the global economy, the effect of rapidly changing technology, the growing gap between the rich and poor, have all had a profound effect on voters who feel disenfranchised from a country that has left them behind. But there is also a psychological explanation, rooted in our neurology. Simply put: bad news has a big impact on us.
Republican campaign plays into our negative bias. A steady stream of fear, hate, and negativity played over and over again tends to effectively grasp our attention. Our brains have a negative bias: we are hard wired to remember the bad stuff over the good stuff. As a result, millions of Americans are convinced that times are bad, that immigrants are taking what’s rightfully theirs, and that the country is in crisis. The Republican campaign has based its theme on “looking out for danger”, feeding into and reinforcing people’s negative bias and creating a negative feedback loop.
The spotlight effect. Neuroscientist have a saying, which is an updated version of “you are what you eat” to “you are what you pay attention to”. It’s what neuroscientist Rick Hanson refers to as the “vacuum cleaner spotlight effect.”
“Attention functions like a vacuum cleaner with a spotlight on it, it illuminates what it rests upon and then sucks it into our brain. What your brain is like, and who you are, takes it shape on what your mind rest upon.”
Coupled with “stimulation hunger,” the need to be continually plugged into sound bites, the spotlight effect pulls us in different directions and keeps voters from seeing clearly and gaining a balanced view.
Tell America it’s great… I was intrigued to see a Facebook post the other day that featured Canadians sending positive tweets to Americans about what they like about their country, # TellAmericaItsGreat. It’s a campaign from a creative agency called The Garden hoping to cheer up despondent Americans. It was a very Canadian gesture, but really, it’s much more than that. In contrast, Andrew Cohen wrote:
“Still, this love fest is naïve, silly, precious and royally embarrassing. Americans may be uneasy today but they are not despondent….”
Americans don’t need our love. They know they’re great. That’s just who they are. They’re proud, strong, and unsinkable.” (The Globe and Mail, October 19, 2016)
It’s a shame he sees it this way, why turn a positive into a negative? I agree that Americans are proud, strong and unsinkable, but I also disagree, Americans do need to be told they are great. Who doesn’t need a little love?
“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted”. ~ Aesop
The positive really needs to be reinforced on a constant basis. Whereas negative experiences are wired immediately in the brain, a positive one needs to be absorbed for at least 8 -10 seconds. It also takes five positive experiences to neutralize a negative one. Love can trump hate, it just has to be intentionally cultivated and continually expressed. Let’s hope that on November 8th, the voice of reason and positivity will prevail.