Optimism and Pessimism

"The feelings that come along with optimism and pessimism help us manage other emotions that might get in the way of our effectiveness," observes Annie Paul Murphy in "The Uses and Abuses of Optimism and Pessimism," in Psychology Today (December 2011).  She explains...

"Optimism can act as a bulwark against anxiety; it fills us with an expansive sense or our own power to shape events, overruling the doubts and worries that might otherwise paralyze us into inaction.  Optimism can also buoy us up when things go wrong, deluged by feelings of hopelessness and despair, optimism is the raft we cling to until the skies clear....

"Although pessimism may seem like an odd choice as an emotional helpmate, it, too, can assist us in managing our feelings.  By spinning down our expectations, it insulates us from the crushing disappointment when things don't go our way....  If you adopt a pessimistic attitude about your chances... you won't be nearly so affected emotionally when you lose out as you had predicted.  Pessimism can also permit a feeling of delightful relief when, despite our self-protective pessimism, we do manage to get what we want."

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