Optimists are said to be those who see the glass as half full, while pessimists see the glass as half empty. An optimist often tries to find the good in everything. And often this perspective can cause less stress, less anxiety, and a more empowering and motivating attitude. Positive psychologist Martin Seligman coined the term learned optimism to explain that people can cultivate more optimism by challenging their negative self-talk.
Today many people strive to be more optimistic in their daily lives. However, despite the many benefits of optimism on both our physical and mental health, some research is showing that too much optimism in certain situations can actually be harmful.
This leads some optimistic people to only focus on benefits, but at the same time ignore risks and costs. They believe that by adhering to superstitions and engaging in good luck rituals, they can actually significantly improve their chances of winning big. The bottom-line is that psyching ourselves with positive thinking can make us optimistic to the point that we overestimate our ability to determine outcomes.
When life presents us with circumstances that are just out of our reach, seeking to gain real control of them is just wishful thinking on our part. At times like this, positive thinking distracts us from looking at the situation holistically and realistically , preferring instead to paint for us a rosy picture that may not exist.
Read also : 7 Telltale Signs of Facebook Addiction. Is it possible for us to imagine the best possible outcome of an upcoming event, tricking our minds into believing that we have already attained it? It appears to be so, at least according to a recent study. When participants were told to visualize themselves accomplishing something in the best possible way e. In a similar vein, when researchers analysed financial and demographic information collected from U.
In particular, the extreme optimists were less likely to clear outstanding credit card balances, save less money and even work fewer hours than the other optimists. Regardless of whether the optimism in these individuals was induced by positive thinking or that it was already in their blood, this study shows that too much of it can be bad for us. It is, after all, human nature to become complacent when we get too confident with ourselves. As a result, there is now an unspoken pressure on all of us to replace the negative thoughts we have with positive ones.
When we fail to do that, we were led to believe that we are the ones at fault for not trying hard enough to pull ourselves together and "think positively".
Now we have an additional emotion to deal with, on top of what was troubling us in the first place: the guilt for being unable to convince ourselves to be optimistic about our situation! Instead of accepting our fears, worries, anger, etc.
Read also : Freelancers: How to Deal with Insecurities. Such phenomenon has been well-pointed-out in the thought-provoking book, " Bright-Sided How Positive Thinking is Undermining America ", where author Barbara Ehrenreich related her experience with the unhealthy American culture of positive thinking, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. As the pervasive assumption amongst the breast cancer community is that positivity allows one to conquer the illness , patients were pressurised to feel optimistic about their cancer even to the extent of interpreting it as a gift despite actually feeling depressed and distressed over it.
Optimism may even help people live longer. The best thing about optimism is you can learn it, even if your outlook tends to be more pessimistic. Optimism and pessimism are mindsets — ways of thinking and seeing things. Optimists see the positive side of things.
They expect things to turn out well. They believe they have the skill and ability to make good things happen. You've probably heard people who tend to see the faults in everything called "pessimists.
People aren't always optimistic or always pessimistic, but most people tend to lean toward one of these thinking patterns. The good news is, if you tend to be more pessimistic, you're not destined to always think that way. We can all become more optimistic by adjusting the way we see things. Optimism goes beyond seeing the bright side of a situation or expecting good things. It's also a way of explaining what has already happened. When something good happens, optimists think about what they did to make the situation turn out so well.
They see their abilities as permanent, stable parts of themselves. They think of how this good thing can lead to other good things. When things don't go as expected, it's the reverse: Optimists don't blame themselves. They see setbacks as temporary. When something goes wrong, optimists link it to a specific situation or event, not their capabilities.
Because they don't view setbacks as personal failings, optimists are able to bounce back from disappointment better than pessimists. Here's an example: Griffin and Jake both try out for the basketball team during sophomore year.
Neither makes the final cut. Both feel disappointed, but they handle it differently. Griffin is an optimist. He thinks: "There was a lot of talent at the tryouts and only a few openings. That pushed me to practice hard and I played my best — it felt good!
The coach gave me great feedback. I'm going to work on the things he suggested and watch all the games this season. That way, I'll have a better chance next year. Griffin is focused on the specific situation, not on personal shortcomings.
He doesn't see the situation as permanent. He fully expects to get on the team next year and is already thinking of how to make that happen. Jake tends to be more pessimistic. He thinks: "No wonder I didn't make it — I was the worst one at tryouts and the coach doesn't really like me. I never get a break. I might as well face it, I'm just not a great athlete. He blames himself, but he also sees outside factors the coach, life as working against him. Even worse, he lets this one event make him doubt his athletic abilities altogether.
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