Is your glass half-full or half-empty? Does your answer depend on your circumstances?
It was only when I read Heidi Grant Halvorson’s 2010 book Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals that I came to understand some of the advantages that pessimists have in reaching their goals. Dr. Halvorson, a professor and researcher at Columbia University, is an expert in Social Psychology. In this book she reports the results of experiments, her own and those of others.
Full disclosure: I have always defined myself as an optimist, not a pessimist. I am eager to try new things, and I pursue them with a passion. I also wake up early in the morning eager to start the next day. My wife calls me a “sometimes obnoxious optimist” because of my (overly) hopeful and energetic disposition.
Pessimists’ fundamental belief is that the world is full of danger. Therefore, a pessimist will have goals to prevent bad things from happening. Here are some positive features of pessimism that Dr. Halvorson reports:
- Fear of loss motivates pessimists to work to lessen danger. When their efforts succeed, they are relieved, calm and relaxed.
- Pessimists are cautious, because they want to avoid mistakes. They aren’t procrastinators, they don’t let things slip through the cracks. They will plan and work to avoid the worst outcomes.
- Pessimists are detail-oriented and value accuracy over speed. They are focused and perform better than optimists when there are distractions and temptations.
Clearly, there are times and situations when optimism will work better and others when pessimism is more appropriate. In particular, when there is real and severe danger, then the pessimistic approach will work better. Our challenge then is to determine which approach is more appropriate in each situation we find ourselves in.
Do you see yourself as an optimist, a pessimist, or some of both?