MIT Sloan Management Review Article on Why Sharing Good News Matters

A recent study shows that taking an intentional approach to sharing positive stories can help leaders boost employee morale.

Research shows us that even in normal times, constant exposure to negative news can have a heavy impact on our mental health. In the midst of an unprecedented health and humanitarian crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic, people are not only faced with new challenges in their work and personal lives but also subjected to a constant barrage of troubling headlines.

Among other things, negative news increases the level of cortisol, the body’s primary stress hormone. Continuous exposure to cortisol has been shown to cause severe side effects, including being unable to naturally regulate blood pressure. Furthermore, negative news stories have been shown to significantly change an individual’s mood and mindset — particularly if there is a tendency to emphasize suffering, death, and other emotional components of the story. A survey from the American Psychological Association found that even prior to COVID-19, more than half of Americans said that the news causes them stress, and many report anxiety, fatigue, or sleep loss as a result.

About the Author

Paola Cecchi-Dimeglio (@hlspaola) is the chair of the Executive Leadership Research Initiative for Women and Minority Attorneys (ELRIWMA), a senior research fellow at the Center for the Legal Profession, and affiliated faculty in the Women and Public Policy Program (WAPPP) of Harvard Kennedy School. She is the CEO and founder of the decision-making consulting firm People.Culture.Drive. Consulting Group.

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