BLOGPOST 2: Pessimsim and Psychology

As you can see above is a glass with water. Try to ask yourself. How do you see this glass of water? Is it half empty? Or is it half full? By your answer, you can simply test your psychological perspective. If you say it's half empty, then I must say that you are a pessimist. Why? Instead of looking at it as half full, you simply look at it on the near state of emptiness. You look at it in the near state of being useless. You directly look at the downside of such image. If you are not convinced, try assessing yourself through different psychology test. Click the link to get through the site.

The truth behind the image is that there is no definite answer. It is just a piece of assessment on how you view life. But still, it affects our psychology. Pessimism influence our mind and behavior. Through psychology, we may comprehend why pessimists think and behave as they do.

As I was searching for articles about the psychology of pessimism, the articles of Clifford Lazarus perfectly caught the wave. I ended up with these articles, the first one is entitled "Be Happy -- Just Think Negative Thoughts!!" and the other is " The Virtues of Pessimism"  Both articles interest me by the fact that they were something positive about pessimism.

Tackling on the first article,Be Happy -- Just Think Negative Thoughts!!, the first question that will intrigue you is that, "Are pessimists actually happier than optimists?" That's a tricky question, I guess! 

The author started his article stating that though there is certain theory of health improvement and stress inducement optimism has. He believes that pessimism can also promote one's welfare and that, pessimism when tolerated, can be a source of protection.

He verified his statement by picturing a scenario where in a kid was too optimistic about his swimming skills that he hesitated using swimmies. Luckily, there were pessimists who grabbed him before he has laid out his life. Considering the scenario, it is often for some to become overconfident whenever they're being too positive about life. Too much optimism leaves them not to worry of life's darker side. This is just one of the instances that one may encounter in life. There may be quite a lot dangerous than just the scenario mentioned. But with these information provided, pessimists can actually save lives.

The author also added that these kind of scenarios are actually not so unusual. Lang's study revealed that too much optimism can lead future with a greater risk of disability and death in the following years. On the other hand, being pessimistic may encourage people to live more carefully, and to take health and safety precautions. A gloomy outlook in the future could be the key to longer and healthier life.

Another thing that the article added is that Pessimism can function in a paradoxical approach. It functions as if you are in the contrary to what is due. You change your perspective for a certain purpose. To explain further, picture out a person who doesn't like taking a bath, so let him be that you wont allow him taking a bath. Another is, when a girl doesn't like to cut her nails, let her be that she's not allowed to cut her nails. You let them until the initiate doing it. It works the same thing as pessimists think negatively, to keep the purpose coming. If you think that sleeping is boring and all, then so be it. You keep yourself awake until you find yourself sleeping. So if it happens that you assume negatively, you meet something which is better for you. It's kind of doing something in order to achieve the opposite result.  Hence, it keeps pessimist to a surprise if something good happens. The same thing when you're wrong, it is what you expected in the first place, anyway.

This led me to his other article, "The Virtues of Pessimism."  The article strongly promotes that  a negative outlook may be a secret to living a longer life.

The article states that "based on data from an impressive sample of 40,000 people between the ages of 18 and 96, it was discovered that for every point by which a person overestimated his or her future happiness, there was a 10% higher likelihood that that person would die or become disabled in the following decade."

Such finding yields to a light for pessimists to consider this perspective due to the discovery that overdosing optimism has a likelihood to become disabled or much worse is to die in a decade.

The article actually contradicts the prevailing study of optimists of living a longer and healthier life. It states that through pessimism, life can be prolonged. Pessimism makes one to be realistic in life. It helps people to be watchful with health. So by any chance if one's asked to try skydiving, of course optimists wouldn't hesitate to try, while pessimists would simply refuse. By simply being a pessimist, you don't simply engage in situations that's why there's lesser chance of taking risks. There is a lesser chance to take a fall.

The study gave a light for pessimists. If the stereotypes see pessimists as negative, hence there is no need to frown for pessimists. It is good that the fact paid off every misconception about pessimism. I think the author is trying to tell that those pessimists picture out accurate facts on WHAT LIES in their future while the optimists picture out happy facts that MAY BE THE LIES in their future. It made optimists become less cautious in life, leaving pessimists to extend life the more they become pessimistic. So if by any chance that a somebody ask you to smile, you simply tell that somebody you don't smile because you're a pessimist. But most likely, you're not smiling because you're going to live longer. :) 

Both articles gave way to influence us to see it in a different manner. It's not just pure as negativity, but also somehow as positivism. Pessimism was seen in a light way, not just the heavy things one can simply infer by looking. We may conclude that Pessimism is also a key to a good life. One just simply need  proper comprehension and wisdom in order to reach the good future that we desire.