Feedback Loops in Psychology: Positive vs. Negative Loops for Change

Feedback loops are a self regulating process of change. They involve a behavioral change, consequence of change, and adjustment or continuance of new behavior based on the consequence. Ideally, this is a perfect pattern for successful change. Operationally, change isn’t so easy.

Feedback loops play a crucial role in various psychological processes, including learning, emotion regulation, self-awareness, and self-regulation. They help individuals adapt to their environment and navigate their internal experiences. Understanding and identifying feedback loops can be valuable for promoting positive changes and improving psychological well-being.

Several elements contribute to the success and failure of feedback loops. Many of our internal feedback loops operate beneath consciousness, measuring success of an action against different criteria for success than our most treasured intentions. Biases, justifications, and a host of other contaminants interfere with the successful operation of psychological feedback loops and we endorse and sustain behaviors that sabotage long term objectives.

Positive vs. Negative Feedback Loops: What’s the Difference?

Think of a Negative Feedback Loop like a thermostat: when the room gets too cold, the heater kicks on to bring it back to a comfortable level. It’s a ‘stabilizer.’ A Positive Feedback Loop is more like a snowball rolling down a hill: it picks up speed and gets bigger as it goes. It’s an ‘amplifier’ that can lead to great success or a sudden crash. For example, if a person feels anxious in social situations and avoids them, their avoidance behavior may temporarily relieve their anxiety. This reinforcement can strengthen the anxiety and avoidance pattern.

Negative feedback loops, on the other hand, work to stabilize or correct behavior or emotional states. When a behavior or emotional state deviates from a desired or optimal range, the feedback loop provides corrective information to bring it back to balance. An example of a negative feedback loop is the body’s regulation of temperature: if body temperature gets too high, the feedback loop triggers responses to cool it down and restore equilibrium.

Intentional Change

We often operate on auto pilot. Behaviors, feeling affects, and environments intermingle, spitting out unconscious evaluations and behavior reactions. We respond to our environment without conscious effort. The results, well, are not perfect. A lot depends on past learning and biological set points. However, conscious change, while not immune to contaminates, may greatly benefit from feedback loops.

When we can identify an end goal, purposely enact a new behavior to achieve that goal, and objectively evaluate the success of that new behavior, we greatly enhance our chance of success. For example, if our goal is to improve our grades in school, we decide to study everyday from 8 to 11 (new behavior), at the end of the semester we achieve higher marks than previous semesters (objective evaluation), we continue our designated study time for the following semester (sustaining new behavior). If the new behavior does not improve grades, we can adjust by increasing study time, or study methods, or changing which hours we study, and again reevaluating at the end of the semester.

A healthy feedback system works together with appropriate behaviors to obtain our hopes and dreams.

Emotional Feedback Loops: How Feelings Drive Our Habits

A common measurement of a new behavior is our emotional reaction. We evaluate success by how we feel. We ask, “how do I feel now?” However, the behavior-emotional response feedback loop is instantaneous. Following an action, we act almost immediately experience an emotion. Emotions may reinforce or deter further action depending on the valence and intensity of the emotion.

Emotions may serve as the reward and punishment of operant conditioning, enticing either repeating or abandoning a behavior or set of behaviors. The emotion serves as an unconscious feedback loop. A source of conditioning or learning that occurs beneath conscious awareness.

Destructive Feedback Loops: Addiction and Self-Sabotage

The problem is that not all feedback encourages healthy behaviors. Some feedback may lead to addictions and habits that hurt and destroy. Feedback loops are responsible for employing defense mechanisms to service the ego, by protecting from external hurts and rejections. Not all these protective mechanisms are helpful—some prevent growth.

Substance addiction is often attributed to feedback loops. “Alcohol-use disorders can be seen as a self-perpetuating feedback loop.” Many addictive drugs stimulate “the reward centers of the brain, heavily influencing dopamine, as well as other neurotransmitters…Alcohol induces relaxation and euphoria” (Dorrian, 2012).

The biological feedback that our body is giving is that consuming alcohol is good. Unfortunately, dependence further strengthens the feedback by continually strengthening the feedback as consumption begins to relieve the discomfort of withdrawal once dependence takes hold.

​One of the problems with the instantaneous feedback of emotion is the shortsighted feedback. When we respond by ceasing the discomforting behavior, we feel relieved and thus strengthening the feedback loop. Many substantial changes require a period of learning before mastery. New behaviors feel uncomfortable before we glory in the rewards. The feedback from our emotions is “this is uncomfortable—stop!” Yet, it is only by ignoring the negative feedback, persisting in the new behavior that we achieve our difficult goals.

Feedback Loops and Decision Making

Decisions are far from a simple feedback loop. Designing life plans, reacting to environmental stimuli, and simple choices of what to do next all require the integration of multiple systems, and multiple feedback loops that don’t always work together. Some feedback may suggest continuing, while other sources of feedback may signal stopping or even retreating.

Joseph LeDoux, a Professor of Science at New York University’s Center for Neural Sciences, wrote that, “Decision-making compresses trial-and-error learning experiences into an instantaneous mental evaluation about what the consequence of a particular action will be for a given situation. It requires the on-line integration of information from diverse sources: perceptual information about the stimulus and situation, relevant facts and experiences stored in memory, feedback from emotional systems and the physiological consequences of emotional arousal, expectations about the consequences of different courses of action, and the like” (LeDoux, 2003).

Feedback Loops in Relationships: The Power of Micro-Moments

Many micro behaviors combine to make the ultimate feedback loop. Unless we are aware of the behaviors constructively (or destructively) working together to create the consequence, we may not benefit from the knowledge and make the necessary adjustments or value the behaviors creating amicable environment.

In regards to feedback loops in relationships, Harvard psychologist Susan David wrote, “Micro-moments of intimacy or neglect create a culture in which the relationship either thrives or withers.” She continues, “The tiny behaviors feed back on themselves and compound with time, as every interaction builds on the previous interaction, no matter how seemingly trivial. Each person’s moments of pettiness and anger, or generosity and lovingness, create a feedback loop that makes the overall relationship either more toxic or happier going forward” (David, 2016).

See Seemingly Insignificant Behaviors for more on this topic

Associated Concepts

• Cybernetics: This interdisciplinary field introduced by Norbert Wiener studies self-regulating systems and is foundational to the concept of feedback loops, which are essential for maintaining homeostasis in both mechanical and biological systems.
• Homeostasis: In psychology, this refers to the body’s automatic processes to maintain a stable, balanced internal environment. Feedback loops are crucial for this process.
• Behavioral Control Theory: This theory provides a framework that explains how individuals regulate their behavior to achieve specific goals. It’s based on the idea that people have internal mechanisms that monitor and adjust their actions to maintain a desired state.
• Operant Conditioning: B.F. Skinner’s theory of learning emphasizes the role of reinforcement and punishment, which can be seen as a type of feedback loop influencing future behavior.
• Social Learning Theory: Albert Bandura’s theory suggests that people learn from observing others, with feedback playing a key role in reinforcing observed behaviors.
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): This therapeutic approach involves identifying and changing negative thought patterns, where feedback loops between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are addressed.
• Systems Theory: This theory views psychological issues within the broader context of systems, where feedback loops help understand complex interactions within families, groups, and organizations.
• Self-Regulation: This concept involves controlling one’s behavior, emotions, and thoughts in the pursuit of long-term goals, and feedback loops are integral to this process.
• Motivational Systems: Feedback loops are involved in motivational systems, influencing how goals are set, pursued, and adjusted based on success or failure feedback.

​A Few Words by Psychology Fanatic

Feedback loops are essential to growth, serving as a continuous dialogue between our behaviors and the outcomes we experience. These loops convey messages about our actions, often providing insights that we may be reluctant to acknowledge. While it’s easy to dismiss uncomfortable feedback, doing so can hinder progress. The discomfort we feel in response to change is not always an indication to abandon new behaviors; rather, it may signal that something significant is happening within us.

Moreover, ignoring feedback related to discomfort might lead us to disconnect from valuable emotions altogether—emotions that hold crucial lessons for personal development and self-awareness. Instead of viewing these feelings as obstacles, we should embrace them as opportunities for reflection and adjustment. Each instance of discomfort presents an opportunity for learning and adaptation; it encourages us to evaluate whether our current path aligns with our long-term goals or if adjustments are necessary.

By fostering a mindset that values both positive reinforcement and constructive criticism inherent in feedback loops, we create a more robust framework for personal evolution—one where every feeling serves its purpose in guiding us toward meaningful transformation.

Last Update: January 24, 2026

​References:

David, Susan (2016). Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive in Work and Life. Avery; First Edition. ISBN-10: 1592409490
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Dorrian, Jillian (2012). Alcoholism: The Self-Reinforcing Feedback Loop. Psychology – Selected Papers. DOI: 10.5772/31626
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LeDoux, Joseph (2003). Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are. Penguin Books. ISBN-10: ‎0142001783
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