Pollyanna principle

Psychological research and findings

The Pollyanna principle was described by Margaret Matlin and David Stang in 1978 using the archetype of Pollyanna more specifically as a psychological principle which portrays the positive bias people have when thinking of the past. According to the Pollyanna principle, the brain processes information that is pleasing and agreeable in a more precise and exact manner as compared to unpleasant information. People actually tend to remember past experiences as more rosy than they actually occurred. The researchers found that people expose themselves to positive stimuli and avoid negative stimuli, they take longer to recognize what is unpleasant or threatening than what is pleasant and safe, and they report that they encounter positive stimuli more frequently than they actually do. Matlin and Stang also determined that selective recall was a more likely occurrence when recall was delayed: the longer the delay, the more selective recall that occurred.

The Pollyanna principle has been observed on online social networks as well. For example, a series of studies by Emilio Ferrara, a computer scientist at the University of Southern California, found that Twitter users preferentially share more, and are emotionally affected more frequently by, positive information.

However, the only exception to the Pollyanna principle tends to be individuals suffering from depression or anxiety, who are more likely to either have more depressive realism or a negative bias.

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.

Empirical research findings suggest that the positivity effect can be influenced by internal positive speech, where engaging in constructive self-dialogue can significantly improve one's ability to perceive and react to challenging situations more optimistically.

The findings of a study show that the optimism bias in future-oriented thinking fulfills 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.

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.

Positivity bias

Positivity bias is the part of the Pollyanna principle that attributes reasons to why people may choose positivity over negative or realistic mindsets. In positive psychology, it is broken down into three ideas: positive illusions, self deception, and optimism. Having a positive bias increases with age, as it is more prevalent in adults approaching older adulthood than younger children or adolescents. ≠Older adults tend to pay attention to positive information, and this could be due to a specific focus in cognitive processing. In studies compiled by Andrew Reed and Laura Carstensen, they found that older adults (in comparison to younger adults) purposefully directed their attention away from negative material.

Criticisms

Although the Pollyanna principle can be seen as helpful in some situations, some psychologists say it may inhibit an individual from coping effectively with life obstacles. The Pollyanna principle in some instances can be known as "Pollyanna syndrome" and is defined by such skeptics as a person who is excessively positive and blind towards the negative or real. With regard to therapy or counseling, it is viewed as dangerous to both the therapist and patient.