From: The Washington Post
Why we often remember the bad better than the good
The Washington Post recently asked readers to anonymously share their most vivid memories, and these were some of the responses:
“Sitting on my bathroom floor after my father died.”
“My face being forced down to do something I didn’t want to do.”
“The day I heard the voice of God in my head that said, ‘My son, you have another chance.’ It happened moments before I was going to commit suicide.”
But they weren’t all about negative or difficult times. There was the person who remembered a peaceful Easter morning as a child, and the person who remembers the day they met their husband. But readers’ responses were largely retellings of trauma, or traumas turned silver linings.
Many studies suggest that we are more likely to remember negative experiences over positive experiences, and according to Laura Carstensen, a psychology professor at Stanford University, in general, we tend to notice the negative more than the positive.
Read the whole story (subscription may be required): The Washington Post
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