7 Myths about Optimism and Pessimism

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Optimism is one of the most famous human traits. Many studies have shown that optimists tend to outperform their pessimistic friends in life – at least in terms of physical and mental health, resilience, relationships, careers, pain management, and even longevity. Having a good mood and expecting the best, as we believe in scientific and cultural dogmas, will lead to the best.

But is it all that simple? Is optimism always adaptable, and is it really a bad thing to be a pessimist?

Research by psychologist Julie Norem suggests otherwise.

Dr. Norem has been studying the phenomenon of defensive pessimism – the cognitive strategy of setting low expectations and considering worst-case scenarios of future events – for nearly four decades. It turns out that the habit of not setting your hopes high can help manage anxiety and gain a sense of control.

In her most recent research, Dr. Norem notes that the use of defensive pessimism correlates with more precautionary measures during the Covid-19 pandemic (e.g. hand washing, wearing masks, social distancing) and less risky behaviors (e.g. meeting) indoors with people that you don’t live). “Without a doubt, defensive pessimists are more fearful than their optimistic counterparts,” explains Dr. Norem, “but they are also actively making more efforts to manage their risk.”

One of the biggest surprises from Dr. Norem’s research is the reluctance of the public to believe that there is something positive about pessimism. But perhaps ironically, when people discover that they are defensive pessimists, many report that they feel relieved and validated.

This is Dr. Norem in her own words on 7 myths about optimism and pessimism, 2 examples where defensive pessimism is most effective and 2 ways to encourage optimism.

1: You are either an optimist or a pessimist.

Not correct. People’s perspectives vary from domain to domain. For example, you can be optimistic about your social life and pessimistic about your work. Furthermore, we can view optimism-pessimism as a tendency to expect good or bad things (trait level); or how susceptible people are to positive and negative effects (temperament).

These are tendencies – they are not deterministic of certain expectations in certain situations. While these tendencies can be influenced by genetics, they only point us in one direction. We still have the freedom to move.

2: Optimists are born, not made.

This myth is too broad to be true. While we don’t have a lot of evidence that we can get rid of our tendencies to experience negative effects, cognitive therapy studies suggest that people can learn to revise the way they view situations. It is not easy, but it is possible.

3: Being an optimist is always better than a pessimist.

Not correct. Research from Japan found that defensive pessimists outperform optimists in terms of affect and actual performance. Studies from the United States show that defensive pessimists do as well on average as optimists. Defensive pessimists tend to have a negative impact, but not necessarily less positive.

In the United States, the popular belief is that when it comes to positive affect, the more, the better. When you experience negative emotions, you are often motivated to get rid of them because you feel like you are failing at something. In other cultures, including Japan, the ideal affective life is more balanced. A well-adjusted person recognizes that there are negatives and positives in most things in life and allows himself to experience both.

4: Pessimists are more likely to become depressed than optimists.

Right – in terms of general traits, pessimists are at higher risk for depression. The bigger picture, however, is more complicated. Research shows that defensive pessimists are actually less depressed than other pessimists and not significantly more often than optimists. What increases the risk of depression is when pessimism is coupled with hopelessness. That is, when pessimists feel they are in control of their circumstances.

Here the distinction between defensive pessimism and fatalistic pessimism is important. Defensive pessimists are geared towards doing things better in their life or getting things done. Fatalistic pessimists, on the other hand, may have the same tendency to experience negative emotions, but instead of actively searching for what to do in the world, they assume that they are destined to be who they are, and for who they are that there is no hope. This is the path that leads to depression.

5: Optimism is an essential part of human prosperity, while pessimism is an essential barrier to wellbeing.

This myth is oversimplified and reductionist. Indeed, if you define thriving in terms of positive emotions primarily, optimism makes you much more likely to experience positive emotions. However, since this correlates with the spirited tendency to experience positive emotions, it is not clear which comes first. It’s also unclear that what associates positive emotions with optimism is relevant to people who are not optimistic – it’s not that people can just pretend they’re optimistic and things will become for them necessarily better.

6: Pessimists can be happy too.

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True. The value people place on happiness as a result varies enormously. Defensive pessimists certainly have many moments of happiness and enjoy many things in their life. But this is not their focus. Instead, they don’t want to regret it and work towards their goals. They want to feel like they did their best in a particular situation and they want to manage their fear so it doesn’t interfere with their goals.

In addition, defensive pessimists can tolerate negative emotions. For many people, once they realize they are anxious, their primary goal is to get rid of fear and feel happy. The strength of defensive pessimists lies in their ability to say, “I realize that I am anxious. I know what to do with this fear and I won’t let it get in my way. “It’s different from denying it or trying to suppress it or avoid it.

7: Optimism has no drawbacks.

Not correct. Right now, optimism almost always looks good because it correlates strongly with happiness. The downside to optimism comes from looking at the way people plan and anticipate future events. Pessimists are never surprised when something goes wrong, while optimists are often surprised by setbacks. An unexpected negative result is usually perceived as more negative than expected. If you are always expecting wonderful things to happen and you are constantly disappointed, it is not very adaptable.

John McCain famously wrote about optimists who suffer most in prison camps. They kept telling themselves that they would be free by a certain date and when that never happened they became deeply depressed. This is a very extreme case, but it captures part of the premise. The other risk of optimism is that over thinking can make you overconfident and ignore potential risks and issues that you need to take seriously.

Research also shows that optimists are very good at dealing with immune problems in the short term. If your immune function is charging up with a big initial reaction, it may well be when you are battling a cold. But the longer the challenges go on, the more the immune system gets into trouble – you can’t keep up this level of struggle in your immune system.

When defensive pessimism helps most

• If the results are negative, possible outcomes are important
• If there are things you can do to prevent these results from occurring

When you find yourself in a situation where disaster is certain and there is nothing you can do, defensive pessimism won’t help. When you’re in a situation where the outcome isn’t that important (like planning your route to the grocery store), defensive pessimism can cost you more than it gives you back. On the other hand, defensive pessimism can be very adaptable when you find yourself in a situation where the negative outcomes can be severe. For example, I would prefer a defensive pessimist to be in charge of a nuclear reactor so that they can foresee all sorts of things that could go wrong and work to prevent it from happening.

How to be more optimistic

• Try to spend time regularly thinking about times when things were going well in your life. In this way, these positive memories can be accessed immediately and thus help you in future scenarios.
• Try to generate different possible frames for a given situation, and note that the situation may not contain the frame. This helps you realize that you may have a choice in how you view situations. If possible, exercise this choice.

Many thanks to Julie Norem for her time and insight. Dr. Norem is the Margaret Hamm Professor of Psychology at Wellesley College. She is the author of a number of books including The Positive Power of Negative Thinking.