Don't get me wrong, I have lived a relatively happy life. It just seems like I can remember the more negative episodes of my life in better detail than the positive ones. Your thoughts please....
2006-06-20 17:54:58 · 13 answers · asked by Sassy 6 in Social Science ➔ Psychology
It's the same reason why all people always think they get in the slow line at the grocery store. It's statistically impossible, we just don't pay attention when everything is going our way. We don't have to think as much. There is a complicated psychological theorem that goes with all of this, but I've managed to unlearn most of my college courses in the 6 months since I graduated.
2006-06-21 05:06:42 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 1⤋
Negative memories stick with you more than positive memories because more than likely they hurt more than the good memories felt good. If you think about it, negative thoughts and emotions are more complex than happy ones. Happy ones normally center around a simple joyful thing. You are happy, ecstatic, maybe in love, those kinds of things. You're not normally happy and nervous, or happy and sensitive. But when you're angry or when something happens in your life that makes you angry or upset (a negative effect) there's a bunch of things going on making it easier to remember. You might have felt angry, scared, nervous, uncertain, confused, all of that at once. Negative feelings are a plethora of emotions, and although happy moments can be very overwhelming as well and be multi-faceted, negative ones tend to get you thinking more. When you win a championship you don't have to ask "why" and just keep it stuck there. When a child is born you don't pray for an answer "why". Normally with positive events you take it for what it is and try to make the most of it. Negative events more often than not need to be solved (at least most of us think they do instead of letting them go which maybe we should try to do more) so there's more time and energy in the mind being spent on the perplexing nature of the event.
It's not weird, I think that's just how humans work. But there's a quote that says "Write the bad things that are done to you in sand, but right the good things that are done to you on a piece of marble". No doubt that quote was probably created because too many of us spend too much time focusing on the negative.
2006-06-20 18:07:57 · answer #2 · answered by TelleyJade 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You remember bad memories better than good memories because bad memories are tramatic episodes. When someone encounters a tramatic episode your brain gives off warning signals to similar situations so you are not to repeat the act.
If this is not the case there is a chance that your subconsious likes being upset. Some people aren't happy unless they are sad about something, because they get off on the emotional release. Otherwise known as a misery chick.
2006-06-20 19:08:56 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, it's not weird. For me, though, I tend to have more bad memories about people I don't like than I do about people I do like. Probably because I forgive & forget the occasional bad things people I like do, while I don't ever forgive what people I don't like do, even if it's the smallest thing, or something that happened when I was only 5 years old. I have a good selective memory.
2006-06-20 20:08:17 · answer #4 · answered by wildflower 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am not an expert in psychology. I have taken one psychology course, however. I believe this phenomenon of remembering bad memories better than good ones involves the limibic system of the brain. This is the neural system that is heavily involved in emotions. I believe bad memories trigger the limbic system more heavily than do good memories. Also, women have larger limbic systems than men. This may explain the phenomenon that women tend to have a higher emotional quotient (E.Q.) than men.
2006-06-20 18:02:14 · answer #5 · answered by student2000 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not wierd at all. That's all I remember. I have no happy memories hardly at all and I think I have lived a happy life. Maybe I was high. lol
2006-06-20 18:01:58 · answer #6 · answered by xxxcariooo 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm guessing the negative ones affected you more than the positive ones, had more feelings and thoughts connected with them and that made stronger memories...
2006-06-20 17:59:06 · answer #7 · answered by Nettie 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A sad fact of the human condition is that joy and happiness, while memorable, do not leave the everlasting impressions upon that painful memories do.
2006-06-20 18:07:05 · answer #8 · answered by x_lil_redangel_x 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
probably because the negative memories have had more of an impact in your life compared to your good ones
2006-06-20 17:59:15 · answer #9 · answered by Captain Savage 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no, you're normal. I remember falling off the side of a slde when I was 6 but can't remember any good times I had around that time.
2006-06-20 18:29:39 · answer #10 · answered by Marc 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋