Optimism and Pessimism

There are many key characteristics that optimists tend to share. Some signs that you tend to be optimistic:

You feel that good things will happen in the future.
You expect things to work out for the best.
You feel like you will succeed in the face of life's challenges.
You feel that the future looks bright.
You think that even good things can come from adverse events.
You see challenges or obstacles as opportunities to learn.
You feel gratitude for the good things in your life.
You are always looking for ways to make the most of opportunities.
You have a positive attitude about yourself and others.
You accept responsibility for mistakes but don't dwell on them.
You don't let one bad experience muddy your expectations for the future.

An example of optimism is believing that there will always be opportunities to make things better tomorrow, even if you are experiencing challenges today.

Optimist Explanatory Style

Optimists explain positive events as having happened because of their own actions or characteristics (internal). They also see them as evidence that more positive things will happen in the future (stable) and in other areas of their lives (global).

Conversely, they see negative events as not being their fault (external). They also see them as being flukes (isolated) that have nothing to do with other areas of their lives or future events (local).

For example, if an optimist gets a promotion, they will likely believe it’s because they are good at their job and will receive more benefits and promotions in the future. If they are passed over for the promotion, it’s likely because they were having an bad month because of extenuating circumstances, but will do better in the future.

Pessimist Explanatory Style

Pessimists think in the opposite way. They believe that negative events are caused by their own mistakes or traits (internal). They believe that one mistake means more will come (stable), and mistakes in other areas of life are inevitable (global) because they are the cause. They see positive events as flukes (local) that are caused by things outside their control (external) and probably won’t happen again (unstable).

A pessimist would see a promotion as a lucky event that probably won’t happen again, and may even worry that they’ll now be under more scrutiny. Being passed over for a promotion would probably be explained as not being skilled enough. They would, therefore, expect to be passed over again.

Optimists

Attribute positive events to internal causes
Attribute negative events to external causes
Believe that good things will happen in the future
Tend to view bad things as mistakes or random flukes

Pessimists

Attribute positive events to external causes
Attribute negative events to internal causes
Believe that bad thing will happen in the future
Tend to see good things as mistakes or flukes

Potential Pitfalls

Optimism is generally a positive characteristic that confers a number of physical and mental health benefits. But this does not mean that it doesn't have a few potential pitfalls. Some ways that optimism can be detrimental include:

Optimism bias: Sometimes excessive optimism can lead people to overestimate the likelihood that they can experience good things while avoiding bad things. The optimism bias suggests that people often underestimate their risk of experiencing negative outcomes. This can sometimes lead people to engage in risky behaviors that actually increase their chances of having a bad outcome.
Poor risk assessment: When people are overly optimistic about something, they may be less likely to think about all of the potential risks and take steps to mitigate those issues. This can ultimately make it more likely that their efforts might fail, or at least run into major problems along the way.
Toxic positivity: Sometimes people tend to overvalue positive feelings while ignoring or even repressing negative ones. It can also cause people to invalidate the emotional experiences of people who are going through difficult times.

Optimists can avoid some of these pitfalls by focusing on maintaining a healthy, realistic approach to positivity. Rather than focusing only on "staying positive" and ignoring other emotions, the goal should be to try to look on the bright side while still acknowledging the difficulties of the situation.

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Optimism and Pessimism

Pessimist Explanatory Style

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