The Pessimism Bias : The Optimism Bias

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

Chasing optimism in the face of challenges is a requirement that mankind must conform to in order to live a fulfilled life. Studies prove that optimists tend to have the best attitudes through the hardships they face no matter how severe. Even when in the face of challenges, being optimistic will lead you to be more successful in every aspect. Not only will you be more successful mentally, optimists have a much higher chance of being successful physically and in life. This essay will outline the why you must always chase optimism even in challenges face. 96

Notwithstanding the numerous advantages of pessimism, proven by studies, society continues to condemn it. This is particularly due to the fact that optimism is viewed as more superior, compared to pessimism. Author, Jon Gordon, reports, “‘Whether we feed ourselves each day with negative fuel or positive fuel … our optimism has a big impact on our day’” (Gordon). Gordon conveys the fact that, ultimately, optimism determines success, not pessimism. Additionally, Adam Sinicki, a psychology graduate, comments that remaining optimistic during strenuous times will help alleviate the situation because an individual is believing that matters will only mend (Sinicki). While there may be research to support these claims, the truth is, they fail to shed

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

We don’t try hard enough or sacrifice ourselves to reach at our highest level of achievement. This is where the characteristic optimism comes useful to important situations or decisions in our lives. In one word, it’s best described as the predictor of success, which is

The optimism bias pushes people towards positive change because most people want positive change and according to Tali Sharot to make changes in our life we must believe that the changes are possible. Even rather pessimistic people want to change there for they believe it is possible. When a person believes in change and anticipates the change it releases serotonin in the brain and brings about a happy feeling, there for improving their overall wellbeing.

Mitigating the optimism bias would be beneficial when facing a financial crisis;the person might be negligent to the severity of the situation and rely on the hope that everything will unfold itself. By leveling down the optimism bias, the person will be able to think without clouding judgement and exert clarity and intelligence in the progression of settling their finances. However, this could very well be their down fall, by minimizing optimism bias too far gone it can lead them to give up because they see no light at the end of the tunnel, they simply prepare to face the worst scenario possible. When competing one is advised to "not get too cocky" , that is due to the allusion that toning down your optimism bias that you always win,

The topic of optimism bias, according to the Ted Talk, and overconfidence, from the textbook, are similar in the way they affect a person’s decision making. The Ted Talk conducted by Dr. Tali Sharot discusses optimism bias which is “our tendency to overestimate our likelihood of experiencing good events in our lives and underestimate our likelihood of experiencing bad events.” Overconfidence as described by the textbook is “tendency to overestimate the accuracy of our knowledge and judgements.” Both of these affect our thought process when making a decision. Dr. Sharot describes the studies she has performed in her lab and has seen first hand the way optimism bias influences people’s answers. She observed recently married couples what their

Known for his research on affective forecasting, the prediction of how the future can affect ones emotional state, Daniel Gilbert, wrote a book explaining how people tend to have delusions of their future which often misleads peoples’ happiness. This Harvard college professor of psychology published one of the best time selling books, Stumbling on Happiness, arguing that imagination is what triggers peoples joy. As a social psychologist Gilbert wanted to understand what is it that truly causes that feeling to come. People continue believing in beliefs that aren’t necessary true simply because people and society can’t handle the truth. For instance, if you give up after a failure, you will never reach your goals.

I have never been the most optimistic person. Although I can find positivity in virtuous situations, I can also nitpick at minor negative aspects of substandard ones. As I read

Cambridge Dictionary (2016) defines Optimism as “the quality of being full of hope and emphasizing the good parts of a situation, or a belief that something good will happen” Cambridge Dictionary, 2016. To me, being optimistic can help any situation. For example, I work around 25 hours per week whilst studying full time, which results in me being stressed. Having a more positive behaviour towards my studies and work has helped me immensely with reducing my stress levels. Being a student, it can be very hard to deal with getting bad feedback or not finding the resources you need to complete a great assignment. I use my optimism to

Looking at the bright side and noticing what is right as opposed to what is wrong is not normal for most people. It is commonly thought that being optimistic is not being realistic and even though that is true for some people, there are ways to be optimistic in a healthy manner that can help one see life’s challenges realistically even when times get tough. Being optimistic is a skill that takes effort and thought but spending the time to work on cultivating optimism can be life changing. Cultivating optimism is one of the happiness enhancing strategies that has been shown to increase happiness levels and positive thoughts about the future, which is the concept which I experimented with when I conducted the Best Possible Selves activity.

The concept of optimistic response or being positive is by no means ideal where you don’t experience negative emotions. Obviously, we can’t avoid negativity in our lives; bad things do happen always. What matters is the rate of positive to negative emotions over time. We have to be sure that we have more than enough positive experiences to counterbalance the negative ones. (Carbrera, 2010)

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