Focus on the Negative

The words of the 1944 pop song by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer, “Accentuate the Positive,” came to mind recently, as I mentally hummed the tune and remembered a few lines. The song was written after one of the composers listened to a preacher giving the advice, “Accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative.” The first two verses of the song are:

        You've got to accentuate the positive
        Eliminate the negative
        And latch on to the affirmative
        Don't mess with Mister In-Between

        You've got to spread joy up to the maximum
        Bring gloom down to the minimum
        Have faith or pandemonium's
        Liable to walk upon the scene

The tune suggests that life can be happier if we put attention to those things that are useful, beneficial, and constructive. It's sort of like a pop sermon. It's a message that both ancient sages and modern psychology agree with.

Many things happen to us each day—a mixture of good, bad, and neutral. It's our choice how we respond to them: we can dwell on the negative things and allow them to darken our mood, or we can point to the positive things and let them lift us. We can curse the harmful things or be thankful for the good stuff. When we do the latter, we can “spread joy up to the maximum.” It's a sentiment that few of us would oppose.

Despite the common-sense message of “accentuate the positive,” it seems to me that humans have consistently paid greater attention to the negative. Violent and harmful actions in the world happen too often and garner inordinate attention. Our news media are biased strongly towards featuring blameworthy events, while giving scant coverage to praiseworthy things. The evening TV news is a litany of gruesome and brutal events—often appropriately described by the phrase, “If it bleeds, it leads.”

Our entertainment media—TV, films, songs—stress violence and negativity. You've got to dig way back in the newspaper to find an article that accentuates the positive, or wait patiently for a “good news” movie to come to the local cinema. (Those examples date me. Today's newspaper is found online and movies are streamed directly into your living room. But the point is still valid.)

Why is this? Why are we fascinated more by bad behavior than good? It seems to be the human condition: we tend to focus on the negative. While we talk of wanting peace, we glorify war. It's ironic, if not lamentable.

There is endless debate on whether the violent nature of our entertainment is contributing to the violent behavior of so many people. Many studies have suggested that young people are particularly influenced by the negativity, yet little is done about it. It's hard to believe that the negatively biased media and entertainment industries don't have some unhelpful influence.

It causes me to wonder if inordinate attention to bad behavior helps to make some people feel better about themselves, because they can then point to somebody else whose behavior is worse than theirs. Does this process allow one to whitewash one's moral shortcomings? Every one of us knows that our behavior could be much better than it is, so it can ease our conscience a bit, if we can point to someone else's reprehensible behavior.

It seems to be rather boring for many people to “accentuate the positive.” Maybe the phrase can cause one to hum the tune, but it seems to be nowhere as exciting as focusing on the negative, or giving attention to bad behavior. It's far easier (and fun?) to be naughty than nice.