Mood-congruent memory bias
The tendency to recall memories that match how we feel right now. When we feel happy we more easily remember happy events, and when we feel low we more easily remember sad or painful ones.
In everyday life
On a bad day at work, an employee remembers mostly past failures and starts to believe they have never been good at their job.
Feeling on top of the world after a promotion, you describe your childhood as full of happy summers, though during a rough week last month you described the same years as lonely.
Why your mind does this
We take in far more than we can handle, so the brain uses what is already active in memory as a filter. Things we met recently, often, or with strong feeling are likely to matter again, so pushing them forward saves time and effort.
Its family, in 30 seconds: Primed & repeated
How to spot it
Ask yourself whether your overall verdict on a person, job, or period of life has shifted along with your feelings today.
How to counter it
Keep a record of good and bad events as they happen, and read it before making big judgments while upset or elated.
Same family: Primed & repeated
SourcesBower (1981)·Wikipedia