Bad News Sells Better, Bad Research Slips through Cracks
The hope that one “lives in interesting times” is often misinterpreted as a well-intended wish that the other lives through a period of excitement and opportunities. If recent events are anything to go by, however, that well-meaning desire for others is more akin to a curse, that the other is subjected to the chaos, turbulence, and uncertainty that plagues their day-to-day experiences. Given the events of recent times, many of us are clamouring instead to live in uninteresting times. True, bad news gets transmitted and shared more quickly than good news. Psychological studies show that we prefer the sensational over the banal when it comes to our news feed. But our inherent negative biases have been further hijacked by the endless stream of misinformation and claims for false cures that flood our news feeds [1]. This disease of misinformation – an infodemic, is not just seen in mainstream media, however. Sensational journalism shares part of the blame, but there have also been reports of misconduct among scientists and the publication of erroneous scientific reports. The “hot race to publication” of novel COVID-19-related findings has led to the retraction of numerous scientific studies that proclaimed the evidence for ‘cures’ – hydroxychloroquine being one that was recently widely publicized in the media [2]. The flurry of misinformation has also resulted in xenophobia, particularly in the West, further dividing communities along racial lines [3].
Character Strengths and Positive Personality Traits
What isn’t surprising, however, is that this negativity bias – our fixation with threats, dangers, and challenges is not new [4]. And neither should our aggressive or hostile reactions come to much surprise, given how the pandemic has threatened countless lives and livelihoods. But the pandemic is that it isn’t the cause of inequalities. The pandemic (merely) highlights the differences in the have’s and have-nots; the disparities across humanity that long existed before the virus took hold. This global health crisis has also brought to the fore our worst impulses – greed, recklessness, and xenophobia. The dark side of human nature often lay in fitful dormancy during uninteresting times but are rudely awakened during interesting ones. More than ever, we need to draw on our innate goodness – our strengths and virtues, if we are to navigate the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 virus in preparing us for life with, and beyond, this crisis [5]. We witnessed the frailty of human life – but also, witnesses what the best among can do for the greater, collective good.
In the psychological literature, strengths are capacities for feeling, thinking, and behaving in a way that helps us flourish. Simply put, strengths are personality traits that motivate optimal functioning. A popular and often-used typology of strengths is based on the work of Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman and can be measured through the Values in Action (VIA) Survey of Character Strengths [6]. The typology categorizes strengths into 6 categories – (i) wisdom and creativity, (ii) courage, (iii) humanity, (iv) justice, (v) temperance, and (vi) transcendence. Peterson and Seligman propose the VIA classification as an antithesis to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), which focuses on psychological disorders and maladies.
You can take the free survey to get an assessment of your strengths here, but before you do – try and guess which category of strengths you have, or best define you. Contrast that by listing weaknesses or flaws – areas and aspects of your personality you hold less favourable views of. Chances are – because of the negativity bias we hold toward ourselves, you would have found it easier to list your limitations instead of your strengths. It is not an understatement to say that in these interesting times, that we would benefit from more astute judgment from those in leadership positions, more honesty in media reporting, kindness for those in need, fairness in the allocation of much-needed resources such as vaccines, self-regulation to temper our reactive impulses, and in the cultivation of hope as a promise for a better future. Judgment, honesty, kindness, fairness, self-regulation, and hope are just some of the 24 character strengths captured by the VIA classification.
Cultivating and Celebrating Strengths in Yourself and Others
We need to recognize that we cannot overcome the challenges brought about by these interesting times merely by addressing the consequences brought about by the crisis. We need to address the welfare and physical needs – adequate food and shelter, for sure, as well as addressing mental health challenges. But we cannot offer these without relying on our strengths. These efforts can also be complemented with interventions that draw from our innate goodness. Recognizing and cultivating – making greater use of our strengths and the innate goodness that comes naturally to us as well can help see us through these challenging times. While research on character strengths and their importance relative to the pandemic is still in their infancy, evidence exists to suggest that our strengths can be borne out of adverse and challenging circumstances [7] and predict resilience above and beyond self-efficacy and self-esteem [8]. Our character strengths can also aid in coping with work stress and job satisfaction – an important finding considering how much of how we work has changed dramatically since the start of the pandemic [9].
The psychologist Ryan Niemiec highlights that strengths offer us three ‘opportunity’ functions – it primes, and preps prepares us to the strengths we can ready for use, cultivates a mindful disposition towards strengths and what the situation demands of us, and fosters a sense of appreciation for our innate virtues. Niemiec also highlights that strengths serve three adversity functions – it buffers against problems, encourages us to use our strengths to reinterpret and reframe challenges and foster resilience [10]. Crucially then, our strengths function to bring to immediate attention virtues and qualities we already have, in the service of helping us manage challenges and be our optimal best. And we do this even when the situation biases and inclines us to our more selfish impulses.
What strengths do you have that can help tide you through these challenging and uncertain times? What exemplars of human goodness and virtue do you see around you? And importantly, which can you emulate naturally for the good of those in your family and communities? Our negativity bias paints a pessimistic view of the days to come, but only if we choose to let them. There is perhaps, no more urgent a time than the present; the urgency of our circumstances and precarity of our lives and livelihoods demand that we dig deep within ourselves and recognize the goodness we can bring forth in a world. A world that, at the time of writing, is direly in need of humanity’s best.