Think Society is in Decline? Research Gives Us Reasons to Be Cheerful
Despite widespread pessimism about the state of the world, research shows that many aspects of society are actually improving — we just tend not to notice.
CultureGNGV Editorial Team4 min readLast reviewed September 28, 2026
Positive News reports on research that challenges the widespread belief that society is in decline. Studies show that by many objective measures — poverty, violence, health, education — the world has been getting better over time.
The disconnect between perception and reality may be due to negativity bias in media coverage and our own tendency to remember bad news more than good. The research suggests we should be more optimistic about humanity's progress while still working on remaining challenges.
