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
The Novel: An Introduction important, here we remain longer) or to accelerate (lessening of importance) the narration. Furthermore, the "order", the sequence of narrated events - either natural succession or sequence anachronism (prolepsis, i.e. anticipation); analepsis, a flashback) - and the "frequency", that is the repeated narration of identical or equivalent events - discussed. Finally, the importance of using different tempi is elaborated. With examples, Bode analyzes and documents character design and character development in the novel; "figure" means in the broadest sense: a person, a protagonist, a being. This chapter — with more than a quarter of the book the longest — two