We also have a cognitive bias toward exaggerating the prevalence of bad news among ordinary events. For example, a 2017 study showed that people’s perceptions of small random fluctuations (e.g., good days or bad days in the stock market, severe or mild hurricane seasons, unemployment ticking up or down) are less likely to be perceived as random if they are negative.[32] Instead people suspect that these variations indicate a broader worsening trend.
