Irresistible Habits
You’ve likely made a decision, commitment or resolution in the past that hadn’t gone as well — whether it was an emotionally scarring breakup or the result of disastrous planning, they didn’t follow up to your expectations.
Pessimism revolves around the principle of expecting the worst; chances are, we believe that anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Our emotional outlooks, environment and media influence plays a role in inducing negative attitude, while it does not imprint on others as often.
Is The Glass Half Empty?
This expression presents two possible agendas one can live by: an optimist sees the glass as half full, where their focus lies on what can be done with the amount of water in the glass - a pessimist sees the glass as half empty, under the possibility of the water running out and will soon be empty.
Murphy’s Law
If there is any way to do something wrong, engineer Edward A. Murphy was determined to find it. A constant in the pessimism equation, the cautious tone of Murphy’s Law is a reminder that it’s about when things go south, and not if they do or not.
It is natural that we may misunderstand this connotation, as stress pressures the right-hemisphere side of our brain; as a result, pessimism is potentially stimulated with feelings of:
- Anxiety
- Hate
- Trauma
However, Murphy wanted to remind his partners that things can go wrong, and that all possible mistakes must be avoided. Knowing that everything doesn’t go according to plan is instinctive.
Joy Is A Dangerous Emotion (To Some!)
To understand why people are pessimists, this shows that there is an underlying reason why. Being pessimistic isn’t wrong, but can deliver a self-serving impact once assessed.
- When everything in our lives happens to go the way we want — no disputes, problems, or detriments — it becomes hard to believe. Everything seems so ideal, until inconveniences show themselves and we connect the wrong dots.
- Pessimism can act as a path to self pity, and is used as a scapegoat when falling short of our expectations. This basis means that we are in constant lookout for shortcomings, in lieu of progress.
- The way we think is an outcome of the environment, choices and people we associate with. For example, a growing suspicion of someone else can be passed for a gut feeling that you overly trust.
- Imparted by our surroundings, pessimism can be rooted within our belief system; have you always believed that your plan is going to fail, and do you trust the secondary plans that follow?
- A saying goes that a pessimist is an optimist with experience. There is no guarantee that everything will go to plan, hence making it possible for every road to take to burst into flames — it is this experience that holds the power to solidify one’s mindset.
Understanding Optimistic Bias
Out of 5 people, 4 hold the tendency to believe that you are less likely to experience negative events and emotions — this includes both your lofty hopes to ace a test you barely studied for, or to deflect an interview you spent days preparing for.
Although this encompasses an overly optimistic outlook, having some extent of hope is critical for our mental health. We have evolved to be optimistic.
Realism Vs. Pessimism
There is a difference between phrases like ‘if this is bound to fail, why even try?’, and ‘who knows what’ll happen, even if I fail?’ — becoming adept at finding the worst case scenarios will hurt us one way or another.
LITE Offers The Following Advice!
Hope for the best, prepare for the worst — being pessimistic allows for lower expectations, hence keeping us ready to deal with worse situations. Although it doesn’t necessarily translate to expecting doom and overlooking the better things in life, we tend to be happier with success.
Holding ourselves accountable to a standard can feel unattainable, so being a pessimist to an extent does not deliver a negative connotation. Counting as many Murphys in this world, we all can feel resigned to bad endings. However, when it seems that our last ‘win’ was a distant memory, we shouldn’t assume that it stays that way.
Whatever can go wrong will go wrong — until it goes right!
Sources
Masiero, Marriana, et al. “The Smoking Mind: A Psycho-Cognitive Perspective.” ResearchGate, 2017, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313623247_The_Smoking_Mind_A_Psycho-Cognitive_Perspective.
“Why Isn’t There a Murphy’s Law for Optimists?” Oak Park, 27 Oct. 2015, https://www.oakpark.com/2015/10/27/why-isnt-there-a-murphys-law-for-optimists/.
Hecht, David. “The Neural Basis of Optimism and Pessimism.” PubMed Central (PMC), 9 2013, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3807005/.
Sharot, Tali. “The Optimism Bias.” ScienceDirect, 6 Dec. 2011, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982211011912#:~:text=Across%20many%20different%20methods%20and,%2C%20race%2C%20nationality%20and%20age.
