Tobias Grossmann
Tobias Grossmann appears on this site as co-author of the 2008 Psychological Bulletin review of the negativity bias in social-emotional development.
Who they are
The work of Tobias Grossmann reaches this site through the paper listed below. On this site the name is tied to Negativity Bias, Social Referencing.
Key papers
Vaish, A., Grossmann, T., & Woodward, A. (2008). Not all emotions are created equal: The negativity bias in social-emotional development. Psychological Bulletin, 134(3), 383-403. What it reports: A review arguing that adults attend to, learn from and rely on negative information more than positive information, that the bias is present early in development, most clearly in infant social referencing, and setting out predictions for future work.
Key ideas
Negativity Bias: The tendency for negative information to carry more weight than equally strong positive information. This article follows it from the 2001 reviews to book sales and to the limits found in consumer settings.
Social Referencing: Looking to another person's reaction to decide how to respond to something unfamiliar.
Sources
- Vaish, A., Grossmann, T., & Woodward, A. (2008). Not all emotions are created equal: The negativity bias in social-emotional development. Psychological Bulletin, 134(3), 383-403.