On Friday, Opinion Research Corp., a respected American polling company, released survey results that indicate 77% of Americans feel the media is making the economy worse by playing up negative financial news. I've been speaking with friends and associates about this possibility for some time, and it is interesting to have some validation for my thinking. This situation is a classic example of a feedback loop - one with very negative implications.
As described in Wikipedia, psychologists talk about a condition called "learned helplessness". Based on research originally conducted by Martin Seligman at Cornell University in the 1960's, it is a psychological condition in which a human being or animal has learned to act or behave helpless in a particular situation, even when it has the ability to change the unpleasant or even harmful circumstance. in fact, clinical depression and related mental illnesses result from a perceived absence of control over the outcome of a situation (Seligman, 1975).
Is learned helplessness partly responsible for the generally sour mood of the consumer? The pessimism can't be attributed solely to economic fundamentals any longer - many of the conditions that caused the seizing of credit markets and the subsequent fall of Lehman Brothers have been addressed.
I think that the media could as easily cause to a feedback loop with positive outcomes, if they would balance their sombre reporting of the negative with more positive economic messages (and there are positive things to speak about - the cost of oil, economic stimulus packages).
Unfortunately, these don't drive viewership/readership nearly as well ...
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