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Optimism is considered a useful quality that should be developed, while pessimism is a barrier to success and happiness.
For example, scientists have confirmed that optimists have a lower frequency of dying from cardiovascular diseases and cancer and generally live longer. They suggest that positive thinking protects against stress, helps the incurably ill remain happy, and even improves memory.
However, the dark side of optimism exists.
Why do people consider optimism beneficial?
Psychologist Martin Seligman initiated the idea of the advantages of optimism by researching depression and conducting experiments on dogs in the 1970s. These investigations formed the foundation of positive psychology.
Seligman administered a mild electric shock to the dogs after ringing a bell. Eventually, the dogs responded to the bell as if they had already experienced the shock. Then, the scientist confined the dogs in a large cage with a partition dividing it. The area where the dog was located was intermittently exposed to shock while the other area remained safe.
To avoid pain, the dog simply had to jump over the partition but instead, they lay down on the floor. Meanwhile, the other dogs, who hadn’t been shocked, easily jumped over the partition and reached the safe area.
Martin Seligman named the state of dogs who didn’t take any action to avoid pain as learned helplessness. He later found out that humans also develop this state if they repeatedly go through negative experiences without any influence. Furthermore, he also observed that some people can effectively resist learned helplessness.
The quality that helped some people to continue to act, Martin Seligman and his colleagues considered optimism – or, if we stick to scientific psychology, “optimistic attributional style.”
Someone who is optimistic explains negative events as temporary, related to a specific area, and not personally connected to themselves and their actions. In contrast, someone who is pessimistic believes that troubles are constant and spread to all spheres of life, finding their causes in themselves. As a result, someone who is pessimistic easily succumbs to learned helplessness and suffers from depression, while someone who is optimistic successfully resists it.
Martin Seligman concluded that positive thinking is an antidote to depression and took it upon himself to teach people about it. He authored several popular books, including “Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life“, which became instant bestsellers. The scientific community and ordinary readers alike were fascinated by Seligman’s simple yet powerful idea.
Numerous studies confirmed the undeniable benefits of optimism. However, further studies on positive thinking revealed that it does not always hold true.
How many people have an optimistic outlook?
In January 2022, Czech singer Hanna Horka intentionally infected herself with coronavirus to “end COVID” since she opposed vaccination and felt that the illness didn’t pose any danger to her. However, Horka passed away.
Optimistic thinking is typically exemplified by Hannah Horca, who overestimates the probability of positive outcomes while underestimating negative risks. Additionally, many people share this type of thinking.
The pandemic made it apparent. Sociologists, for instance, discovered in March 2020 that more than half of Americans did not view the coronavirus as a threat to the global economy, and only one in five acknowledged it as a personal threat.
Groundless optimism is extremely common in our lives where people seldom consider the risks that circumstances may completely change their lives for the worse.
Furthermore, people typically become increasingly optimistic as they age, despite their circumstances. However, individuals with depression believe that the future will turn out worse.
Neurobiologist Talia Sharot from University College London conducted an experiment demonstrating people’s natural inclination towards optimism. Respondents were asked to assess the likelihood of facing unpleasant events in the future, such as burglary or Alzheimer’s disease, and real statistics were presented to them.
Even after this, people who considered their risks to be lower than average – for example, at 10% rather than 30% – did not modify their assessment.
Only those who held a pessimistic viewpoint willingly revised their forecast. For instance, if they had initially estimated the likelihood of acquiring cancer as 40%, but later discovered that the average probability was 30%, they reduced their estimate.
Tali Sharot not only surveyed respondents, but also observed what was happening in their brains using fMRI.
She discovered that the left inferior frontal gyrus receives positive information. When a person discovers that their cancer risk is lower than anticipated, this brain region immediately activates. On the other hand, if a person learns that their chances of illness are higher than expected, the right inferior frontal gyrus activates.
The source of human optimism is believed to be located in the right inferior frontal gyrus. In contrast to the left inferior frontal gyrus, this area of the brain shows a hesitant reaction to news. Additionally, individuals with a greater degree of optimism display lower levels of activity in this brain region when confronted with negative information.
In other words, if new information does not promise anything good, the optimist’s brain is unwilling to update their perception of the future.
How does excessive optimism pose a danger?
Scientific data confirms that people’s natural inclination towards optimism can lead them to take unjustifiable risks, as demonstrated by the story of Hanna Horka.
For example, Clark University researcher Jeffrey Arnett discovered that smokers express greater optimism about smoking’s consequences than non-smokers. Although both groups acknowledge smoking’s addictiveness and association with premature death amongst most smokers, their personal risk assessments would differ if prompted.
Non-smokers acknowledge that smoking could be hard to quit and may lead to death, should they start. Smokers tend to doubt this fact, and every other person assumes that quitting smoking is easy. Such extreme optimism hinders the process of quitting because it convinces the person that nothing poses a threat to their life.
In one study, researchers asked 809 students to rate how likely they were to face alcoholism and alcohol poisoning. Following their current alcohol consumption, they assigned the participants to one of three groups: unrealistic optimists, realists, and unrealistic pessimists based on how accurately their prediction matched their risk level. The scientists identified the same pattern in relation to alcohol.
Over two years, scientists observed students and gathered data, then compared it with forecasts to discover that unrealistic optimists experienced alcoholism and alcohol poisoning at a significantly higher rate than realists and unrealistic pessimists.
Optimistic people can be let down by their confidence in a happy future beyond just health.
To achieve success in any undertaking, one must not only consider positive scenarios but also prepare for unsatisfactory outcomes. Legendary basketball coach Bob Knight demonstrated this by urging players to concentrate on the negative instead of the positive. This approach is important since the team that makes the fewest errors is the one that wins. Negative thinking assists players in identifying their weaknesses and taking timely corrective measures.
Psychologists call the approach that Bob Night is describing “protective pessimism.” You probably know individuals who utilize this tactic from your university studies. They fret before each test and genuinely persuade those around them that they will flunk and face expulsion. Despite their attitude, they consistently earn an “A.”
Protective pessimists manage their anxiety and focus on small details that can lead to failure, preparing themselves for a variety of problems, including those beyond their control. They represent the worst possible scenario in the development of events.
An individual practicing defensive pessimism may thoroughly prepare for an interview by estimating travel time and considering potential traffic jams, ultimately leaving their home earlier than necessary. Conversely, an optimist who assumes everything will go smoothly would not take such precautions, potentially resulting in lateness if a traffic jam occurs en route.
The scientists have observed that individuals who are pessimistic adapt better to calamitous events like the loss of a friend and confront depression fewer times than optimists. These individuals can prepare themselves for even the most strenuous circumstances by rehearsing negative scenarios.
What mistakes do optimistic people commit?
It is clear that pessimists and optimists hold distinct views. This disparity goes beyond a simplistic representation of a glass being either half-full or half-empty.
Nobel laureate in economics Daniel Kahneman explains that cognitive biases, resulting in errors of thinking, cause the negative effects of optimism. Although these biases are present in everyone to varying degrees, they are particularly evident in optimists. To demonstrate this, the scientist shares a real-life anecdote.
A small team of scientists and teachers developed a curriculum for schools in Israel for a completely new subject in 1975. After achieving their first significant milestone a year later, they held a discussion to determine the additional time needed to complete the project, with various estimates ranging from 18 to 30 months.
When the team member asked about the feasibility of meeting the deadlines, it became evident that no one had achieved completion of the project within a span of less than seven years. Moreover, instances of project termination before conclusion amounted to 40%.
Despite this information, scientists and teachers persisted with their work for eight years, but practically nobody used their educational program afterwards due to such cognitive biases causing these and other errors.
Illusory superiority
People tend to overestimate their knowledge and abilities compared to others, which is known as illusory superiority. For instance, 80% of drivers believe that their driving skills are above average, 87% of students think that their academic performance is better than their peers, and 68% of teachers consider themselves among the top 25% in terms of teaching skills. In short, most individuals have an excessively positive view of their self-assessment.
Biased optimism
A person with biased optimism believes that bad things are less likely to happen to them than to others. Smokers who are aware of the harm caused by smoking, but still consider themselves invulnerable, provide a prime example of biased optimism. They acknowledge that smoking can be deadly, but they do not see themselves as being among the victims.
Illusion of control
The illusion of control is the third key thinking error of an optimist. An optimist believes that events can be influenced by them, but in reality, the situation is controlled by outside factors, and their influence is much less than they perceive. For instance, a gambling optimist believes that they control the game and that luck favors them, but in truth, the casino’s rules or pure chance determine who wins and how often.
How to become an optimistic realist
Daniel Kahneman and psychologists who focus on the dark side of positive thinking do not recommend completely abandoning it.
To start, let’s examine the drawbacks of pessimism. When dealing with depression, an individual who has a highly pessimistic outlook often believes they lack control over things that are actually within their control. This serves as a mirror image of the illusion of control that optimists possess. As a result, some scientists have coined the term “pessimistic bias” to describe this phenomenon – similar to the optimistic bias.
Secondly, problems are usually caused by excessive, unrealistic optimism. Moderate optimism is more beneficial. For example, self-confidence can help an optimist achieve success: they perceive their achievements as evidence of their genius and their failures as accidents and injustices, and as a result, they continue to pursue their goals despite difficulties.
Optimists and pessimists alike should actively seek a balance between self-belief and preparing for negative events to create a happier future. Here are a few tips to assist in achieving this goal.
Look at the situation from the outside
Looking at the situation from the outside, people tend to overestimate their chances of success when evaluating themselves. However, research indicates that asking people to predict the success of others leads to more realistic forecasts.
For example, when scientists asked incoming college students to estimate their academic success, they responded that they would perform better than 84% of their peers. Another group of graduates asked the same question, but researchers first enquired about their entrance exam scores and their peers’ scores. The future students’ answers were less confident, and they believed they would perform better than only 20% of students.
Cultivate healthy pessimism
Cultivate healthy pessimism by consciously seeking unpleasant facts that contradict your hypotheses to fight confirmation bias, a cognitive bias characteristic of optimists that makes a person pay attention only to information that confirms their opinion and automatically ignore contradictions.
Acknowledge problems and notice unpleasant emotions
An excessively optimistic person lives in a simplified picture of reality and denies a huge part of it – everything that is associated with difficulties and suffering. Denial of facts helps them avoid confronting negative experiences.
Like any other psychological defense mechanism, denial can serve a useful purpose. According to psychoanalyst Nancy McWilliams, when a person is unable or it would be inappropriate to express their hurt feelings directly, they may find it easier to deny those emotions instead of consciously trying to suppress them.
During an emergency situation, people typically suppress negative emotions to avoid hindering their escape. However, ignoring an illness that requires treatment or relying solely on this defense mechanism to cope with negative emotions can be truly dangerous.
Psychotherapy can effectively teach individuals to not only deny problems but also cope with the aid of other psychological defenses. If one is not prepared to meet a psychotherapist, they can focus on their emotions and express gratitude towards even the most unpleasant ones.
Always remember that negative emotions are normal, and they indicate that something is not right. For instance, someone treating you unfairly can make you angry, and you must observe and make an informed decision about whether to continue communicating or ending the relationship.
Rethink optimism
Psychologists claim that optimism is a behavior, not an attitude. True optimists doubt themselves and experience sleeplessness due to anxious thoughts. What distinguishes them is their ability to act and persevere despite doubt and worry. So, it’s time to rethink optimism.
Harvard Kennedy School Professor Arthur Brooks proposes utilizing the term “hope” instead of “optimism”. An optimist distorts their perception of reality by anticipating everything to go well. When faced with challenges, they are ill-equipped to resolve them and must handle disappointment instead of taking action.
A hopeful person acknowledges that everyone experiences troubles but remains confident in their ability to address them if things go wrong. While they may not be able to fully resolve the situation, they can at least make improvements. Consequently, persevering in doing what they believe is right is worthwhile.
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