Many people often find themselves overwhelmed by relentless thinking about potential problems, past mistakes, hurtful words or actions from others, and a never-ending stream of concerns. The list seems endless!
We’re all familiar with how our minds are constantly buzzing with thoughts, and for some, like myself, it can feel like the majority of these thoughts tend to lean towards the negative side. Whether it’s worries, fears, or even irrational thoughts influenced by past experiences, news, or something we’ve recently read, the barrage of negativity can be relentless.
I often lean toward the idea that the inclination to think negatively is a learned behaviour resulting from extended exposure to adverse circumstances. This may be evolution’s way of safeguarding our safety and maintaining our comfort zone.
The idea that negative thinking, often involving a focus on potential threats or dangers, could be a survival tactic has been explored in various studies and theories in psychology and neuroscience. While there isn’t a definitive set of studies that can conclusively prove this concept, here are a few studies and lines of research that touch upon the idea of negative thinking as a potential survival mechanism:
Attentional Bias and Threat Perception
Research in the field of attentional bias has examined how the brain tends to prioritise the detection of potential threats or negative stimuli in the environment. Studies using methods like the dot-probe task and emotional Stroop test have investigated how individuals are more likely to notice and react to negative or threatening information.
For example, the study “Attentional Bias in Emotional Disorders”1 explored how individuals with anxiety disorders tend to exhibit an attentional bias toward threat-related information.
Evolutionary Psychology and Adaptive Thinking
Evolutionary psychology suggests that negative thinking may have evolved as an adaptive mechanism to enhance survival. The idea is that paying close attention to potential threats and being cautious would have been advantageous for early humans in dangerous environments.
One study2 explores the negativity bias, the human tendency to give greater attention and significance to negative information compared to positive information. The paper provides evidence from various areas, suggesting that our ancestors’ heightened sensitivity to negative stimuli likely evolved as an adaptive mechanism to detect and respond to potential threats in their environment.
Psychophysiological Responses to Stress
Studies on stress and the body’s stress response have investigated how negative thinking and anticipation of threats can trigger physiological responses, such as the release of stress hormones like cortisol. These responses are considered part of the body’s survival mechanisms.
For instance, the study titled “The Nature of Anticipatory Pleasure: Why You Can Feel Excited About the Future”3 delves into the concept of anticipatory pleasure and the mechanisms behind how the brain processes and responds to anticipation, both positive and negative.
While the study doesn’t directly address negative thinking, it offers insights into why humans might have evolved to engage in anticipatory thinking about potential threats. Negative thinking, characterised by worry or concern about potential negative outcomes, can be seen as a cognitive process that helps individuals anticipate and prepare for challenges or dangers. In this context, the brain’s reward system may activate in response to the anticipation of successfully avoiding or mitigating these threats.
Negative Thinking: From Survival to Daily Life
Negative thinking can serve various functions, and its role in survival is just one aspect of a broader range of cognitive and emotional processes.
Regardless of the underlying cause of negative thinking, many of us grapple with its persistent presence. In my own experience and in conversations with others, this pattern of overactive negative thinking can prove profoundly debilitating. What’s more, it tends to cascade, infiltrating various aspects of our lives.
Here’s an example of this!
Negative Thought: “I made a mistake at work today during the team meeting. I stuttered while presenting my ideas, and everyone looked unimpressed.”
Self-Doubt: “I’m such a failure. I can’t even present my ideas properly. What if my colleagues think less of me now?”
Generalisation: “This always happens to me. I’m terrible at public speaking, and I’ll never improve.”
Anticipation of Future Failure: “I have another presentation next week. I’m going to embarrass myself again, and my career will suffer.”
Impact on Self-Esteem: “Maybe I’m just not cut out for this job. I don’t deserve success.”
Social Anxiety: “I don’t want to attend social events with my colleagues anymore. They probably all think I’m incompetent.”
This thought pattern demonstrates how one negative thought can expand and influence various aspects of life, often resulting in increased stress and anxiety. We’ve all done it, haven’t we?
It’s essential to recognise and challenge such negative thought patterns to promote a more positive and constructive mindset. And there are many strategies that can help us do this. But the first step on this journey is to acknowledge our thinking patterns.
Activity
Before delving into thought management strategies in future posts, let’s start by taking the next day or so to simply observe your thought patterns when you make a mistake. Do you notice your inner dialogue resembling the example above? Are your thoughts turning a minor error into a major issue?
I’ve personally observed this tendency even in small situations. For instance, I might accidentally spill something, and my inner self-critique can escalate into phrases like, ‘You’re so clumsy, this happens all the time, you’re such an idiot!’
Consider how you speak to yourself compared to how you’d speak to someone else. Would you use the same harsh language?”
References
- MacLeod, C., Mathews, A., & Tata, P. (1986). Attentional bias in emotional disorders. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 95(1), 15-20. ↩︎
- Baumeister, R. F., Bratslavsky, E., Finkenauer, C., & Vohs, K. D. (2001). Bad is stronger than good: Evidence-based perspectives on the negativity bias. Psychological Review, 108(3), 374-375. ↩︎
- Gray, J. A., & McNaughton, N. (2000). The Nature of Anticipatory Pleasure: Why You Can Feel Excited About the Future. In The Neuropsychology of Anxiety: An Enquiry into the Functions of the Septo-Hippocampal System (2nd ed., pp. 284-303). Oxford University Press. ↩︎