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As regular Forum visitors know, we try to maintain a non-combative, friendly environment on this Forum. We discourage harsh exchanges, and forbid personal attacks. We also encourage you to maintain positive attitudes towards your fellow forum members.
It turns out that maintaining a positive approach to issues benefits everyone involved. Both in corporate environments and in peoples' personal and family lives, people achieve more and have better relationships if they maintain a 5:1 ratio of positive praise to negative criticism.
80+% Positivity is Optimal
Interesting studies, employed to improve corporate productivity, show that people in teams work much more effectively if comments align with the 5:1 Losada ratio. This means that there are five positive comments for every negative comment (an 83/17% ratio). Remarkably, it has been found that people who enjoy success in their own lives (and marriages) also have a high ratio (at least 80%) of positive comments to negative criticism.
The positivity/negativity ratio (P/N) has been found to be a critical parameter to ascertain what kinds of dynamics are possible for a team (Losada & Heaphy, 2004). P/N is measured by counting the instances of positive feedback (e.g. "that is a good idea") vs. negative feedback (e.g. "this is not what I expected--I am disappointed"). Marcial Losada found that high performance teams have a P/N ratio of 5.6; medium performance teams have a P/N of 1.9 and low performance teams have a P/N of 0.36 (there is more negativity than positivity). These ratios determine the level of connectivity (cooperation) that a team can reach (Losada & Heaphy, 2004).
Interestingly, John Gottman (1994) found that similar ratios occur in marriages who flourish (P/N ratio of 5.1) and those who end up in divorce (P/N ratio of 0.77). Barbara Fredrickson and Marcial Losada found that individuals who flourish have a P/N ratio above the 5:1 Losada line and those who languish have a P/N ratio below the Losada line (Fredrickson & Losada, 2005). Waugh and Fredrickson found that the Losada line separates people who are able to reach a complex understanding of others from those who do not (Waugh & Fredrickson, 2006).
(Losada Ratio Research from Wikipedia)
It turns out that maintaining a positive approach to issues benefits everyone involved. Both in corporate environments and in peoples' personal and family lives, people achieve more and have better relationships if they maintain a 5:1 ratio of positive praise to negative criticism.
80+% Positivity is Optimal
Interesting studies, employed to improve corporate productivity, show that people in teams work much more effectively if comments align with the 5:1 Losada ratio. This means that there are five positive comments for every negative comment (an 83/17% ratio). Remarkably, it has been found that people who enjoy success in their own lives (and marriages) also have a high ratio (at least 80%) of positive comments to negative criticism.
The positivity/negativity ratio (P/N) has been found to be a critical parameter to ascertain what kinds of dynamics are possible for a team (Losada & Heaphy, 2004). P/N is measured by counting the instances of positive feedback (e.g. "that is a good idea") vs. negative feedback (e.g. "this is not what I expected--I am disappointed"). Marcial Losada found that high performance teams have a P/N ratio of 5.6; medium performance teams have a P/N of 1.9 and low performance teams have a P/N of 0.36 (there is more negativity than positivity). These ratios determine the level of connectivity (cooperation) that a team can reach (Losada & Heaphy, 2004).
Interestingly, John Gottman (1994) found that similar ratios occur in marriages who flourish (P/N ratio of 5.1) and those who end up in divorce (P/N ratio of 0.77). Barbara Fredrickson and Marcial Losada found that individuals who flourish have a P/N ratio above the 5:1 Losada line and those who languish have a P/N ratio below the Losada line (Fredrickson & Losada, 2005). Waugh and Fredrickson found that the Losada line separates people who are able to reach a complex understanding of others from those who do not (Waugh & Fredrickson, 2006).
(Losada Ratio Research from Wikipedia)
