Pollyanna principle
Encyclopedia
The Pollyanna principle is the tendency for people to agree with positive statements describing them. The phenomenon is similar to the Forer effect
. Research indicates that, at the subconscious level, our minds have a tendency to focus on the optimistic while, at the conscious level, we have a tendency to focus on the negative. This subconscious bias towards the positive is often described as the Pollyanna principle.
The concept as described by Matlin and Stang in 1978 used the archetype of Pollyanna
, a young girl with infectious optimism. Critics of personality test
s such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
argue that the tests are considered accurate by people exhibiting Pollyannaism.
Pollyanna principle" is an axiom that states "machines should work; people should think." This can be understood as a statement of extreme optimism, that machines should do all the hard work, freeing people to think (hence the reference to Pollyanna), or as a cynical statement, suggesting that most of the world's major problems result from machines that fail to work, and people who fail to think.
Forer effect
The Forer effect is the observation that individuals will give high accuracy ratings to descriptions of their personality that supposedly are tailored specifically for them, but are in fact vague and general enough to apply to a wide range of people...
. Research indicates that, at the subconscious level, our minds have a tendency to focus on the optimistic while, at the conscious level, we have a tendency to focus on the negative. This subconscious bias towards the positive is often described as the Pollyanna principle.
The concept as described by Matlin and Stang in 1978 used the archetype of Pollyanna
Pollyanna
Pollyanna is a best-selling 1913 novel by Eleanor H. Porter that is now considered a classic of children's literature, with the title character's name becoming a popular term for someone with the same optimistic outlook. The book was such a success, that Porter soon produced a sequel, Pollyanna...
, a young girl with infectious optimism. Critics of personality test
Personality test
-Overview:There are many different types of personality tests. The most common type, the self-report inventory, involves the administration of many questions, or "items", to test-takers who respond by rating the degree to which each item reflects their behavior...
s such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator assessment is a psychometric questionnaire designed to measure psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions...
argue that the tests are considered accurate by people exhibiting Pollyannaism.
IBM Pollyanna principle
The "IBMIBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
Pollyanna principle" is an axiom that states "machines should work; people should think." This can be understood as a statement of extreme optimism, that machines should do all the hard work, freeing people to think (hence the reference to Pollyanna), or as a cynical statement, suggesting that most of the world's major problems result from machines that fail to work, and people who fail to think.
See also
- CornucopianCornucopianA cornucopian is a futurist who believes that continued progress and provision of material items for mankind can be met by similarly continued advances in technology...
- Confirmation biasConfirmation biasConfirmation bias is a tendency for people to favor information that confirms their preconceptions or hypotheses regardless of whether the information is true.David Perkins, a geneticist, coined the term "myside bias" referring to a preference for "my" side of an issue...
- Illusory superiorityIllusory superiorityIllusory superiority is a cognitive bias that causes people to overestimate their positive qualities and abilities and to underestimate their negative qualities, relative to others. This is evident in a variety of areas including intelligence, performance on tasks or tests, and the possession of...
- Optimism biasOptimism biasOptimism bias is the demonstrated systematic tendency for people to be overly optimistic about the outcome of planned actions. This includes over-estimating the likelihood of positive events and under-estimating the likelihood of negative events. Along with the illusion of control and illusory...
- Overconfidence effectOverconfidence effectThe overconfidence effect is a well-established bias in which someone's subjective confidence in their judgments is reliably greater than their objective accuracy, especially when confidence is relatively high. For example, in some quizzes, people rate their answers as "99% certain" but are wrong...
- Self-serving biasSelf-serving biasA self-serving bias occurs when people attribute their successes to internal or personal factors but attribute their failures to situational factors beyond their control. The self-serving bias can be seen in the common human tendency to take credit for success but to deny responsibility for failure...