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
What Is to Be Done? (novel) The "Dame in mourning" appearing at the end of the novel is Olga S. Chernyshevskaya, the author's wife. Characters with the last name "Kirsanov" also appear in Ivan Turgenev's "Fathers and Sons". Dostoyevsky argues with Chernyshevsky's ideas in "Notes from Underground". In particular, he responds negatively to Chernyshevsky's idealization of The Crystal Palace, a theme which is referenced throughout Russian literature. American playwright Tony Kushner referenced the book multiple times in his play "Slavs!". The main character of Gide's "Les caves du Vatican" (En. "Lafcadio's Adventures"), Lafcadio, resembles Rakhmetov. In the book "", author Chris Matthew Sciabarra claims that "What