Optimism: Definitional Models, And Models Of Explanatory Style

In the words of Winston Churchill, "The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." When we are optimistic that we can get a job done, or that we can find a cure for a disease, we are more motivated, and we work harder. A scientist who is pessimistic that they will never find a cure for a specific disease will have a mental mind block against finding a cure for a disease, making it considerably harder for them to find a cure. However, a scientist who is optimistic about finding a cure for a disease will be motivated and more focused on their dedication to discovering a cure for a disease such as cancer. When you are optimistic, you are more motivated, and when you are motivated, you are more productive, consequently making optimism a particularly important priority in everyday

In this study, the authors Francine Conway, Carolyn Springer, Carol Magai and Samuel C. Jones analyze the results of optimism and pessimism in grandmothers who are the initial caregivers of their grandchildren. Researchers are trying to find if character traits such as optimism and pessimism have an outcome on the psychological and physical health of grandmothers who take care of their grandchildren. It seems that the intended audience is of an older crowd particularly those interested in studying cases similar to this article or having to do with psychological studies about personality traits. 67 Latino and African American grandmothers who are the essential caretakers for their grandchildren were the participants in this study. These grandmothers

An article written by Kendra Cherry states, “By nurturing positive emotions, even in the face of terrible events, people can reap both short-term and long-term rewards, including managing stress levels, lessening depression, and building coping skills that will serve them well in the future” (Cherry). Optimism has allowed for people to deal with conflicts in a healthy way. Neuroscientist Tali Sharot in her book The Science of Optimism: Why We’re Hard-Wired for Hope argues that optimism provides an adaptive advantage. According to her, “Expecting our future to be good reduces stress and anxiety, which is good for our health. Researchers studying heart attack patients have found that optimists were more likely than nonoptimistic patients to take vitamins, eat low-fat diets, and exercise, thereby reducing their overall coronary risk” (Popova). Dealing with conflicts positively is better for your health and it decreases bad health

For many, pessimism is not ideal, and optimism is their route of choice, as it develops through the arising

planned behavior, if we want to predict a behavior we need to know three things: (1) attitude

This Ted Talk is about optimism bias which is the tendency to think more positively about a person’s life than to think negatively. We have these high expectations that good things would happen than bad ones. It is a positive bias towards an event before the event actually happens. The optimism bias is a naturally occurring phenomenon that seems to become part of human nature because it is an overall tendency to bring upon good things in life over a pessimistic bias (Sharot, 2011).

Some people argue that happiness helps make good decisions because happy people strive for the best result. David states, “[Positive emotions] help build vital social, physical, and cognitive resources that lead to positive outcomes and affiliations” (124). David points out that with the right amount of positivity, people make good judgments. The author acknowledges that happiness can have benefits, but she states that too much happiness could hurt human development because the mind does not consider the consequences of an action. Julie Norem, a psychology professor, points out, “’If you’re a pessimist who really thinks through in detail what might go wrong, that’s a strategy that’s likely to work very well for you’” (qtd. in Wallis). She explains

In the control group, the second floor residents were just given a plant with no choice, were told which night they would see the movie and were told their rooms had been arranged for maximum comfort. Also, they were told about the complaints procedure but were not told they could offer suggestions for improving anything.

If you do not pay your taxes you will be prosecuted by the government and threated with imprisonment if you do not pay. This act of aggression is against what a free society should stand for. Every interaction between two people should be completely voluntary, that includes consent between employer and employee and citizen and government. Thomas Paine once wrote, “There are two distinct classes of men in the nation, those who pay taxes, and those who receive and live upon the taxes.”7 Thomas Jefferson also wrote, “We have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious.”8 This idea of a government that does not receive taxes scares people, especially those that work for the government. They find it inconceivable that the government could find any other forms of income without theft from its citizens. The government should run the same as a company conducts its business. That includes remaining fiscally conservative and not in debt. Lobbying the citizens and selling the products and services that they can provide citizens and working within the budget that they have earned. This idea is scary because it can cause competition in the government, which may not be a bad thing because competition leads to better production and products. Support for free

Where are my roots of optimism. The word optimism goes all the way back to the 1700s. A man named Gottfried Leibniz, believes in the Christian God. He thought God does things for the best and we should just accept what happens in life and act accordingly. Through his strong belief came the creation of Philosophical Optimism. Philosophical Optimism is looking at all things positive, no matter how bad things may be. With this belief, Leibniz, through his discoveries in science and mathematics, was able to create Calculus. This concludes how Optimism first started with a man with strong religious beliefs and powerful knowledge. We all have our own ways of how Optimism came into our lives.

Being optimistic is the main principle for most people. We may often hear the statement about “be an optimist, not a pessimist!” shouted by people. Sometimes you do it for yourself too. When facing such a failure or problem, this will not only help to relieve your heart. Being optimistic will help someone to be healthy in physical and mental. An optimist will find the best way in any circumstance and hope for every good thing can come to him/her. You may have gone through thousands of hard times. However, if you are a born optimist then you will not care of anything destructing you.

Optimism is another trait or attribute displayed by Type Bs, Cs, and hardy personalities (see below). Optimists are more inclined to appraise situations as challenging, whereas Type A personalities will appraise the same situation as a threat. Optimists tend to focus on what they can do to change or improve a stressful situation, rather than what they are unable to do. They are content in what they do accomplish, and do not focus on their failures (Schafer, 2000; Morris & Maisto, 2005).

“A useful definition of optimism was offered by anthropologist (Peterson, C. (2000). Lionel Tiger (1979): “a mood or attitude associated with an expectation about the social or material future one which the evaluator regards as socially desirable to his [or her] advantage, or for his [or her] pleasure”. The basic stance of Lionel Tiger’s definition of optimism is that there is no single or objective optimism at least not as characterized by its content (Tiger, L. 1993). What the individual deems desirable it what optimism is considered to be. Lionel goes on to explain how “Emotional Flavor” must be included in the context, and real world examples must also be considered, such as how an individual was feeling on any particular day, or how pessimistic that might be as a person (Tiger, L. 1993). An example listed by Lionel in the real world is two college roommates. One roommate is more emotionally

Optimistic and pessimistic attitudes constantly affect the outcome of people's lives. In my life, I try to keep an optimistic attitude about the things I do because I know it will help lead me to more desirable ends. There have been many situations in which optimism has helped me through difficult times. Two areas in particular have provided me optimistic experiences: athletics

ownership and socially. I thought I had it all and that I was responsible for it all as I soon realized “NOT