Pollyanna principle Pollyanna principle The Pollyanna principle (also called Pollyannaism or positivity bias) is the tendency for people to remember pleasant items more accurately than unpleasant ones. Research indicates that at the subconscious level, the mind has a tendency to focus on the optimistic; while at the conscious level, it has a tendency to focus on the negative. This subconscious bias towards the positive is often described as the Pollyanna principle and is similar to the Forer effect. The name derives from the 1913 novel "Pollyanna" by Eleanor H. Porter describing a girl who plays the "glad game"—trying to find something to
A Girl of the Limberlost (novel) that Edith will marry Hart, just as Philip will marry Elnora. The central character of Stratton-Porter's previous novel, Freckles, is a man whose job it is to patrol and guard valuable timber trees in the Limberlost Swamp. Freckles appears in "Girl of the Limberlost" as a friend of Elnora. In the film Freckles is an owl. This partial list of characters is taken from the novel, p. xiv. Five characters undergo rather harsh development of character: Katharine Comstock, Margaret Sinton, Philip Ammon, Edith Carr, and Elnora herself. Widely read and popular, the novel brought fame to Stratton-Porter. The full text