Bad Is Stronger Than Good Whether we are easily swamped or nearly waterproof, there’s one wiring challenge we all face: Bad is stronger than good. Psychologist Jonathan Haidt elaborates: “Responses to threats and unpleasantness are faster, stronger, and harder to inhibit than responses to opportunities and pleasures.”8 This observation sheds light on an eternal riddle about feedback: Why do we dwell on the one criticism buried amid four hundred compliments? Built into our wiring is a kind of security team that scans for threat. When it detects danger—real or perceived—the team responds
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