The Power of Bad

How the Negativity Effect Rules Us and How We Can Rule It

By: John Tierney, Roy F. Baumeister

Narrated by: Paul Bellantoni

Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

"The most important book at the borderland of psychology and politics that I have ever read." (Martin E. P. Seligman, Zellerbach Family Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and author of Learned Optimism)

Why are we devastated by a word of criticism even when it’s mixed with lavish praise? Because our brains are wired to focus on the bad. This negativity effect explains things great and small: why countries blunder into disastrous wars, why couples divorce, why people flub job interviews, how schools fail students, why football coaches stupidly punt on fourth down. All day long, the power of bad governs people’s moods, drives marketing campaigns, and dominates news and politics.

Eminent social scientist Roy F. Baumeister stumbled unexpectedly upon this fundamental aspect of human nature. To find out why financial losses mattered more to people than financial gains, Baumeister looked for situations in which good events made a bigger impact than bad ones. But his team couldn’t find any. Their research showed that bad is relentlessly stronger than good, and their paper has become one of the most cited in the scientific literature.

Our brain’s negativity bias makes evolutionary sense because it kept our ancestors alert to fatal dangers, but it distorts our perspective in today’s media environment. The steady barrage of bad news and crisismongering makes us feel helpless and leaves us needlessly fearful and angry. We ignore our many blessings, preferring to heed - and vote for - the voices telling us the world is going to hell. 

But once we recognize our negativity bias, the rational brain can overcome the power of bad when it’s harmful and employ that power when it’s beneficial. In fact, bad breaks and bad feelings create the most powerful incentives to become smarter and stronger. Properly understood, bad can be put to perfectly good use.

As noted science journalist John Tierney and Baumeister show in this wide-ranging book, we can adopt proven strategies to avoid the pitfalls that doom relationships, careers, businesses, and nations. Instead of despairing at what’s wrong in your life and in the world, you can see how much is going right - and how to make it still better.

©2019 John Tierney, Roy F. Baumeister (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

A Greater Good Magazine Favorite Book of 2019

A Leadership Now Best Leadership Book of 2019

“Provocative...the authors are shrewd about the ways in which negativity can pollute both intimate relationships and large groups. They also show that bad experiences can be instructive, using stories to humanize a subject that could otherwise be dry.” (The Economist) 

“In their new book, The Power of Bad, bestselling authors John Tierney and Roy F. Baumeister offer a rule of thumb to help you reach any goal you set your mind to.” (Carmine Gallo, Forbes) 

“In John Tierney and Roy Baumeister’s new book, The Power of Bad, we learn about fascinating research on the negativity bias that illustrates its power over us.... Their book is full of unexpected surprises about human nature, paired with a nice dose of humor.” (Greater Good Magazine)

Another outstanding social psychology book!

Much of THE POWER OF BAD is about the ground breaking research of social psychologist Roy F. Baumeister but this book goes further as contrarian journalist John Tierney provides his helpful insight. More on Tierney later.

The first two decades of the twenty-first century have been the golden years of social psychology thanks in large part to the contributions of such people as Baumeister, Jonathan Haidt (The Happiness Hypothesis, The Righteous Mind, and The Coddling of the American Mind) and Jordan Peterson (12 Rules for Life, Maps of Meaning, and his video series).

The publisher's summary and the critics reviews of The Power of Bad constitute a better review of the book than I could write so just read them.

Coauthor John Tierney wrote science articles and a science blog named TierneyLab for the New York Times for two decades ending in 2009. When he left the NYT my sole reason for reading the newspaper left with him. There was simply no common sense left there. I can still read his work on City Journal and in an occasional post on my favorite blog. Tierney's writing style and his opinions shine through in The Power of Bad.

The narration of Paul Bellantoni is wonderful. He brings the same enthusiasm audio book narration he brought to singing opera.

meh

I found the excerpt from this book in The Atlantic insightful and profound, and decided the read the whole book. The authors have some interesting and useful information into negativity bias when they stick closely to psychology research. But then they spend the last several chapters using generalist arguments to try to explain everything in the world. The vastly oversimplified history of religion in the US was especially annoying. There were a couple of good long form article's worth of information in here, not a book.

behavioral economics with a libertarian stench

the book makes a very compelling case for questioning our fixation with negativity. This is an important and almost revolutionary book in terms of what it dares to question and the extent of the conclusions we could draw from it.

personally, I had a hard time with a few of its conclusions, but that is not to say that it is wrong.
in my perspective, if you were to take this book to its logical conclusion you'd think that most people do not have much to complain about, they just think they do. that depression and suicide are logical fallacies, and demands for social change are a waste of time. The author is right in many ways and has lots of empirical data to support his view, But the problem remains that a mother with 3 children who lost one of them to a tragic accident is still going to be much less happy than a mother that only gave birth to one child, even though she technically has more children.

The book fails to review the power of bad in creating a sense of meaning in people's lives, as well as in literature and art. I wonder if there could be a second addition.

Everyone should read, even if only chapter 9

This is a fantastic and enlightening read. Chapter 9 is something everyone should hear! If you've ever worried that the world is coming to an end, or that politicians are leading our country astray, or that we're just not as safe as we used to be, this book is for you!
Packed with interesting stories and scientific evidence to support the ideas presented, this book has the power to help anyone who struggles with worries or fears and will be a refreshing oasis to everyone.

I recommend Chapter 2 and 9 for EVERYONE

This is a enlightening book. One that confirm or debunk some erroneous ways of thinking. Well worth the price (even if it was part of a buy one get one free like it was for me)

Good news

This book has a lot of good tips
You’ll feel better after you give it a listen

FINALLY a book that admits th power of bad...

Then offers simple, practical, & obvious solutions all of us all too often neglect.

The negativity bias isn't our fault, but it is our choice, and responsibility as to what we do with it.

Get on the low bad diet today:-)

tim #bgreen🌏

recommended but is it true?

I was suggested to read this. But I think most of the research isn’t accurate. Left very puzzled

Interesting read

At first the pacing was great. About 8 hrs of play, and really well written. Near chapter 9 and 10 it was very long and felt all over the place. Overall though interesting way of thinking presented with some relevant statistics and studies

Fantastic Read

one of the best books I've listened to all year. I'd recommend to anyone. should be required reading.