positive–negative asymmetry
the tendency of people to give disproportionate weight and consideration to negative information and events in decision making and perception. For example, voters are more inclined to reject a candidate on the basis of the negative information they receive about that person than they are inclined to accept a candidate on the basis of the positive information they receive. The effect can be cognitive, influencing thinking and judgment, or affective, influencing emotions. In either case, negative information requires more processing and the recipient typically demands more justification and input than he or she would from positive information. See also bad is stronger than good. [first described in 1971 by Belgian psychologist Guido Peeters]