Your Attitude Is Showing: A Primer of Human Relations, Tenth Edition

Falling Prey To Negative Drift

Frequently, there is a subtle but consistent pressure that pushes us from positive to negative thinking. For lack of a better term, let’s call this phenomenon negative drift. Similar to a pall of dark smoke that hides a sunny landscape, negative drift is a gloomy cloud that prevents us from seeing the more positive factors in our lives.

What are the causes of negative drift? Most people believe negative drift occurs because there are increasingly more and more negative factors to contend with in today’s society. For example,

• jobs are faster paced and more stressful;

• there is more crime, violence, traffic, litigation, and bureaucracy; and

• the media provides an overdose of negative images.

The premise, then, is that ...