Optimists vs Pessimists Whos Right
I listed optimism as one of the ten things you should do every day to improve your life. Yet pessimism does have advantages and plenty of people see it as a better way to view the world. What does the research say about the best outlook to take?, Glass as half full, Optimism is associated with better health and a longer life. Being positive can actually cause better health because it changes how people behave. Via The Optimism Bias A Tour of the Irrationally Positive Brain, Optimism can make you happier. And before someone screams "correlation/causation!" research has shown that practicing optimism and gratitude does cause increases in happiness., The army teaches soldiers to be optimistic because it makes them tougher and more resourceful. Just believing you can become smarter and can become a better negotiator have both been shown to increase improvement. Being socially optimistic  expecting people to like you  makes people like you more. Expecting a positive outcome from negotiations made groups more likely to come to a deal and to be happy with it. Optimistic salespeople are more successful. Via The Happiness Advantage The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work, And optimism researcher Tali Sharot explains that, no, being pessimistic doesn't soften the blow of bad news. Via The Optimism Bias A Tour of the Irrationally Positive Brain, So why would anyone choose to be pessimistic?, Optimism can blind us. Pessimism can correct your brain's natural positive bias. Those who are the most optimistic about their own willpower are actually the most likely to give in to temptation. Via The Willpower Instinct How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do To Get More of It, The reason you can predict your friends' behavior better than they can is because we are all realistic about others' actions and a little too optimistic about our own.Extremely happy people and very trusting people don't fare as well as those who are more moderate. In some situations, negative thinking offers a clear advantage. If diagnosing problems is key to success, you don't want to be looking on the bright side. Pessimistic entrepreneurs are more likely to succeed. Optimistic gamblers lose more money. The best lawyers are pessimists. Martin Seligman, psychology professor at UPenn and author of Authentic Happiness, explains, A negative attitude, not a positive attitude, makes you more likely to learn from your mistakes. In fact, the shift to focusing on negative feedback is one of the marks of an expert mindset. There's even evidence that shallow efforts at optimism can make people feel worse. Via The Antidote Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking, So what's the best outlook?, Does this seem like there's no way to win? Totally contradictory?, Improvement requires a focus on the negative and an awareness of all the things that can go wrong. On the other hand, perfect execution requires irrational levels of self-confidence. So when the pressure is on, yes, top performers need to engage in a type of doublethink to be at their best. Via Bounce Mozart, Federer, Picasso, Beckham, and the Science of Success, For most of us, though, those situations are rare. What should you take away from all this?, You don't have to see everything through rose-colored glasses in fact, that's bad but avoid taking a pessimistic attitude where negative events are seen as pervasive, permanent and uncontrollable. Try to see them more as local, temporary and changeable. This piece originally appeared on Barking Up the Wrong Tree. Join over 100,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email here.