I’d be more optimistic, if I thought it would help. I remember reading that on a bumper sticker from a car parked in front of me while being at a stand-still on the interstate one day. I then wondered to myself about the emotions that were going on with the driver of that car. Was he feeling positive at that time? Or was there a rush of negative emotions running through that led him to just one more blood vessel being popped before the barrage of horn pounding started to commence. Let me ask you this: do you think that the driver of that car had a positive or negative outlook on the situation? Was the driver an optimist or pessimist? I explain to you what the difference between optimists and pessimists, what the advantages and disadvantages are of each.
Optimists have a positive outcome of expectancies that significantly influence both their thinking and their approach to the world. (Schneider, Gruman, Coutts, 2012) These are the GO-GETTERS!! You are self-motivating. The only person you rely on is yourself to achieve the goals you’ve set. Your ambitions are big, and there is no limit, not even the sky. You set your mind to the bigger picture and never really bother sweating the small stuff. When you have achieved something, you capitalize on the positive feedback you receive. In summary, you look for the good in everything. Pessimists are people who doubt their chances of attaining desirable goals and tend to withhold effort. (Schneider, Gruman, Coutts, 2012) These are the “well… we’ll see…” type of people who would rather set the bar pretty low for themselves out of fear that they may never achieve anything that they set out for themselves. The negative feedback you may receive may actually end up helping you instead of discouraging you because that’s what you were expecting in the first place. In summary, you look for the worse in everything.
Advantages:
You may look at each of these and automatically assume that being optimistic would have all of the advantages, but that’s not entirely true. There are advantages of being optimistic, as well as being pessimistic. The advantage of being an optimistic person is that you always have a positive mindset for whatever the challenges in which you will face. You may tend to live a healthier lifestyle. The advantage of being a pessimistic is that you take a more settled approach to your life’s activities. Instead of always shooting for the highest goals to obtain, you may lower you standards to help take unwanted pressure off of you. This may help with reducing your nerves, or anxiety, with having that feeling of being a failure when something doesn’t go as plan. This type of negative feeling may help you prepare, or cope, with life’s realities
Disadvantages:
One of the main disadvantages of being an optimistic person is that you end up taking more chances in life with your overload of confidence. Yes, people say that you need to take risks in life to ultimately achieve what you may otherwise never attempt, but sometimes an optimistic person may not know his or her boundaries. When someone sets their targets on lofty goals, the risks are a lot more, and consequences could end up effecting relationships, money, and maybe even your life. The biggest disadvantage of being a pessimistic is that for most of the time you fail to have the motivation that is sometimes needed just to function in life. Pessimists may be at a higher risk for depression, which can lead to unhealthy lifestyles, relationship problems, and an overall dissatisfaction with your life’s achievements. You may spend a lot of time trying to convince yourself that things are going the way that you want them, but in the end, it’s the feeling of emptiness of sometimes knowing that you can do more if you just take those risks.
So what is your approach when you’re going for a job interview, watching your favorite sport teams, or even taking psychology classes at PSU? We have all heard of the “glass half-full, or half empty,” analogy. I’m more of a person who is determined to just get a refill on my glass when it is empty. There’s really nothing wrong with how you approach life, just as long as it’s the life you feel comfortable living.
Reference:
Schneider, Frank W., Gruman, Jamie A., Coutts, Larry M., (2012) Applied Social Psychology; Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems. 2nd Edition; SAGE Publications, Inc.
Great post! I really enjoyed reading it. I personally consider myself an optimist. If something is going wrong, I try to motivate myself and always look at the positive side of the problem, and also think that things happen for a reason. Like you said, there is also downsides to being an optimist all the time. Sometimes you have to stop being an optimist and start being a realist and look at the issue like it is to try to come up with a realistic solution. I do not think that being a realistic person is the same as being a pessimist, since with pessimism you would tend to think that there is no possible solution to your problems. I agree with Hillary’s previous comment, I think that as you grow older, you start to realize that not everything is like you thought it was, and you can sadly become a pessimist.
I really really enjoyed your post this week! I actually have been going through a bit of an existential crisis lately because a friend once told me I was her bright ray of sunshine. She could always count on me to be her optimistic friend who was always trying to lift her spirits up, especially because she suffers from anxieties and depression. But now I feel that I have gotten older and have become immensely pessimistic. I have learned about the universe, other cultures, psychology and criminology, and I have discovered the world is not what I ignorantly thought it was at one point in time. I think pessimism has benefited my personality by contributing to my curious mind. I am now always trying to find the real story behind the sensationalism, getting the facts right and knowing the deeper meaning to things has made me a strong activist and outspoken philanthropist who tries at every opportunity to speak her mind.