Lawyers and the Negativity Bias

Lawyers & Stress…again? Let’s look at the evolutionary biology behind the stress response and why we spiral into a negative bias which is very detrimental to how we approach our work, conversations and interactions with others, and our well-being.

Hello, my name is Cathryn Urquhart and I’m passionate about bringing Mindfulness and Emotional Intelligence into the legal profession. This article is intended to be as interactive as possible so that when you have finished “reading” it, you will be able to recognise when you are in a negativity bias and understand how this adversely affects your work, conversations and interactions with others, and your well-being. Plus, I’ll offer 4 easy to apply strategies that you can use in the office (or anywhere else).

We are hard-wired with a negativity bias as part of our stress response. I’d like to thank my cavewoman ancestor who kept here cave-babies alive and passed down her DNA to me. It’s been said that we are the descendants of nervous apes and I’m confident my distant relative was one of them. Chilled apes may not have stayed alive long enough to procreate. The negativity bias was part of the “alert system”, always on the lookout for danger, change and the unexpected. When triggered, a stress response would occur which got one into a flight or fright mode to protect yourself or your offspring from dangerous animals, neighbouring tribes etc. Plus, being tuned to danger meant that you took steps to spot the problem and fix it or prevent it from happening.

Whilst we are rarely in any true physical danger these days, our brains and bodies are still programmed with this stress response which can fire off when there is a “social threat” or a threat to our ego or identity. A consequence of the stress response is the negativity bias and our systems can be overwhelmed and prevents us from seeing clearly. We tend to react quickly and/or emotionally and get defensive. Recognise any of these symptoms of the negativity bias?

• Limited ability to focus
• Rumination
• Catastrophic thinking
• Underestimating resources

I’d like to share with you a short video which captures the negativity bias quite succinctly and gives us some guidance about what to do to get out of the downward spiral.
Here it is on YouTube.
(Credit: “Locating Yourself: A Key to Conscious Leadership” from The Conscious Leadership Group)

Although they use the word “leadership” a few times, this is not just about leaders. We all have times when we go below the line and find ourselves:

• Clinging to an opinion (right or wrong)
• Finding fault in others or deflecting blame away from ourselves
• Rationalising and justifying what we are doing, saying, thinking (we don’t want to be wrong)
• Getting overwhelmed
• Avoiding conflict or pursuing conflict for the sake of winning

When you look at those ways of being, it’s not hard to see how detrimental this can be to us working with each other, our clients and the other side to deliver effective legal services. In fact, you might recognise some of these behaviours in others and realise how you would probably prefer not to interact with them.

So how can we apply Mindfulness and Emotional Intelligence principles to help get back above the line?

First: start by developing a practice of settling the mind. It’s much easier to “catch the moment” and notice when you are going below the line when you take time each day to settle the mind. Try a 5-10 minute mindfulness practice first thing in the morning, before you start work or at lunch. It’s only 1-2 billable units and a worthwhile investment. Here’s some options

• Insight Timer is a well-known app with tonnes of free content including from the Search Inside Yourself Institute. Easy to upload and use, just plug in a search word/terms and away you go.
• Try a few apps. Go to your app store and search for “meditation” or “mindfulness” and see what comes up. Headspace, Smiling Mind, Calm, Meditation Oasis….the list goes on.
• Here’s some guided mediations on the SIYL website.

Second: when you notice you are going “below the line” then try the STOP Practice before reacting.

• Stop
• Take a breath
• Observe: where am I operating from?
  • Watch the video if you have time
  • Maybe print out the image from the video. Here is a copy on my LinkedIn profile.
  •  Journal. Grab pen/paper or open a note on your phone and spend a few minutes describing how you are feeling and whether you are above or below the line
• Proceed: before you react or make any decision in the heat of the moment, ask yourself
  • If learning from this situation was my primary intention I would…
  • A creative next step might be….
  • Am I trying to “fix” the situation or am I open to another perspective?

Third: If you are below the line but need to have a conversation with someone, how can you prepare?

• If you are focussed on winning and being right, then you shut down and aren’t open to other ideas
• It feels like you need to be in control or things will spiral out of control
• I’ve recorded a short meditation where you visualise the conversation from “below the line” and then “above the line” which only takes a few minutes but gets you in the right mindset. I’ve loaded it to SoundCloud here.

Fourth: develop a Gratitude practice. When we are “below the line” we think that there is not enough…time, money, energy, space, love. It’s possible to shift out of this mindset with a daily Gratitude practice and here are some ideas

• Start a Gratitude Journal in hard-copy or in your phone/ipad/notebook. Need a few ideas then Google eg Gratitude: The Life Blog for 101 Gratitude Journal Prompts
• Use a Gratitude app. I use “Morning!” as I can set a time for a notification to come up and remind me to fill out the prompts. But there are many free options. Check your App Store
• Some people like to incorporate a Gratitude practice with the evening meal.

In the video, our narrator says that when we are “above the line”, then at a distance everything is funny. I’m not so sure about that for lawyers and their clients. But the rest of the “above the line” way of being is very beneficial. Surely we want to be open and curious so that we don’t jump to conclusions or get overly defensive of our position. When we listen deeply, we learn more and create rapport and trust. If we speak unarguably then we are sticking with the facts and not drifting off to the stories we (or our clients) might be clinging to. Being able to separate the facts from the stories is a powerful step towards consciousness.

And whilst this article has mostly been focussed on the legal work and interaction with others in the workplace, it’s clear to me that being “above the line” is good for our well-being. Approaching life and work with optimism, curiosity and joy creates a way of being that is sustainable. The impact on our mental and physical health when we are in a constant state of stress ie chronic stress has been well documented and I won’t go over that here. (“Mental Wellbeing in the Legal Profession: A Global Study”IBA 2021)

I hope that the video and practices above can help you during your work day move away from a negativity bias and be “above the line” as much a possible.

Cathryn Urquhart BJuris LLB (UWA)