Forming Beliefs: Why Valence Matters.

Sharot and Garrett do a review article that puts their work on how we see through rose colored glasses, mentioned in a previous MindBlog post, in perspective (Motivated readers can obtain a copy from me).

One of the most salient attributes of information is valence: whether a piece of news is good or bad. Contrary to classic learning theories, which implicitly assume beliefs are adjusted similarly regardless of valence, we review evidence suggesting that different rules and mechanisms underlie learning from desirable and undesirable information. For self-relevant beliefs this asymmetry generates a positive bias, with significant implications for individuals and society. We discuss the boundaries of this asymmetry, characterize the neural system supporting it, and describe how changes in this circuit are related to individual differences in behavior.