Optimist: distinctive qualities of this type of personality

Who is a pessimist?

Pessimists are people who are anxious and inclined to expect that the situation will not develop for the better. When faced with failure, they usually perceive it as a pattern, and are skeptical about success. On the positive side, it is worth noting that pessimists usually realize responsibility for their own mistakes and do not blame the first person who comes to hand for failure.

As a rule, a pessimist considers himself weak and unworthy , and this is what explains most failures. At the same time, there are areas in which he values ​​his own strengths quite highly and feels quite confident, always counting on success. But he usually interprets any uncertainty not to his advantage. By the way, this form of pessimism is characteristic of most adults who are afraid to get down to business if they are not confident in their own abilities. This is why there are so few successful businessmen - pessimism prevents people from acting.

The greatest predisposition to a pessimistic type of thinking are those with a melancholic temperament. They tend to worry about trifles and get upset over the slightest failures, exaggerating their significance. However, pessimism cannot be considered an innate trait of melancholic people. It’s just that practice shows that most melancholics are pessimists, and ardent pessimists most often turn out to be melancholics.

The development of pessimistic perception is also influenced by upbringing and the social environment in which a person grew up. Moreover, pessimism “gets stronger” over the years. If a person is inclined to see the negative in everything, then every misfortune that occurs confirms his fears. Therefore, the entire life experience of a pessimist only strengthens his confidence that events always develop according to a negative scenario.
It is important to remember about the Pygmalion effect (read what it is in this article). If a person believes that trouble can happen, he himself involuntarily takes actions that increase the likelihood of a negative scenario.

Is it good or bad to be an optimist?

Kinesthetic - what kind of person is this?

It all depends on the degree to which this quality is expressed. If an optimistic person sees only the positive aspects without noticing the negative ones, this can play a cruel joke on him. After all, any negative assessment is designed to protect a person, to identify a threat and eliminate it.

Optimists are more likely to be successful

Therefore, any extreme is harmful. Excessive pessimism prevents you from achieving success and makes life miserable. Excessive optimism leads to carelessness or gambling due to underestimation of the degree of possible risks.

Moreover, reasonable optimism is closely related to good health because:

1. It prevents learned helplessness. Therefore, a person is more likely to see a doctor if something is wrong with his health. A pessimist will not do anything to improve his health, because he will not believe in success. He won't even have the desire to improve anything.
2. Promotes a healthy lifestyle. A pessimistic person is prone to addiction. He may pass on junk food or drink excessively alcoholic drinks, hoping to improve his mood. An optimist knows how to rejoice on his own; he does not need harmful stimulants.
3. Knows how to establish relationships with people. Therefore, he has more friends, in general he is more successful, because his friends really help him.

Optimism is the key to a successful and happy life.

How to recognize a pessimist?

In most cases, pronounced pessimism is immediately evident. People with pessimistic perceptions exhibit noticeable self-doubt. They tend to evaluate everything negatively and always expect trouble to happen. But since pessimists quickly notice that others do not like this behavior, many of them try to hide their views.

A pessimist can be identified by the presence of the following signs:

• aloofness, closedness;
• negative assessment of all events;
• tendency to negative emotions;
• tendency to depression;
• constant expectation of trouble;
• reluctance to leave your comfort zone;
• lack of self-confidence;
• inability to enjoy pleasant little things;
• skepticism towards positive news;
• tendency to frequent illnesses (since constant stress reduces their immunity).

Please note that a skeptical attitude towards reality is not limited to pessimists. Many of the characteristic features from the above list can also be seen in ordinary realists who sensibly assess the situation. But a pessimist is a person in whom the listed traits are constantly present and manifest themselves in all areas of life.

Pros and cons of a pessimist

Most people are biased towards a pessimistic way of thinking, considering pessimists to be typical losers who voluntarily give up success in their careers and personal lives. Indeed, positive thinking helps to achieve significantly greater results. But pessimism, if it is not excessive, can be very useful in some situations. Therefore, being a pessimist is not so bad.

Pros of pessimists

When explaining who a pessimist is, they often say that he is a well-informed (or simply experienced) optimist. Indeed, pessimists are a kind of realists, always preparing for the worst scenario. And it often happens that due to this they get a serious advantage over optimists who hope for good luck. A pessimist always looks at the situation more soberly, carefully thinking through the details of the plan and carefully weighing the probabilities of success and failure.

The main advantages of pessimists include:

• readiness for setbacks and failures;
• responsibility for one's own actions;
• ability to analyze and take into account errors;
• high level of thoughtfulness of actions;
• ability to plan things and break them down into subtasks.

Pessimists really analyze the situation more deeply and carefully study the reasons for failure, due to which they are much less likely than optimists to make the same mistakes again. Pessimists are always useful in a team during tactical and strategic planning, since they manage to notice pitfalls hidden from others.

Research shows that pessimists have higher intelligence levels than optimists. This is explained by their constant reflection on the current situation, analysis of their own mistakes and reflections on the future. All of the above allows them to constantly keep their brain in good shape, developing creative and logical thinking.

Who is an optimist and how does he behave?

Optimists develop a characteristic behavior in life. It distinguishes them from other people and is the basis of their lives. We will tell you about these qualities.

1. according to their psychotype, they are, as a rule, sanguine - people with an active life position, sober-minded, positive always and in everything;
2. they are always mentally balanced and able to think analytically;
3. optimists are always tuned to a positive outcome of events;
4. If any problem occurs, even one of the most difficult in life, an optimist does not give up. At the same time, he does not put on rose-colored glasses and will not demonstrate his attitude where it is not appropriate. For example, an optimist will not convince everyone at a funeral that life goes on, it is beautiful, and so on. He is capable of regret, sadness and crying like most ordinary people.

Is it good to be an optimist, you ask? But there is no exact answer to this question. If you read the qualities that we talked about above, you can conclude that being an optimist is a good character trait. He does not look at the world through rose-colored glasses, but tries not to lose his positive attitude even in the most difficult life situations. He may doubt, but he never whines. This undoubtedly helps in life not to give up and make the right choice.

And also - scientists have proven that those people who are always positive are less likely to get sick. After all, pessimism certainly leads to fear, bad mood and stress. And as a result of stress, a variety of health problems arise, including diseases of the cardiovascular system. An optimist has a higher level of happiness hormones in his blood, which will prevent him from getting sick.

Since we have figured out that optimism in a person is good, let’s talk about how to become an optimist. After all, this quality is not inherent in nature; it needs to be developed. And it is possible.

Disadvantages of a pessimist

We found out above that a pessimist carefully prepares for difficulties and thinks through all the options for failure. Then why are almost all successful and famous personalities optimists? The main reason is simple, and it is embedded in the very definition of what a pessimist is. This is a person who has big problems with self-esteem, so he simply convinces himself that he is not worthy of success. In most cases, pessimists prefer to be content with a mediocre life (it is enough to live no worse than your neighbor). Pessimism also has other disadvantages that interfere with achieving success.

The main disadvantages of pessimists:

• low social popularity (starting from school);
• lack of ambition;
• difficulties in communicating with loved ones;
• conscious refusal of many joys of life;
• tendency to self-sabotage.

Pessimists pay little attention to their appearance, which is why they often look unkempt. Research shows that others always treat neat and well-dressed people more favorably. In real life, an optimist is usually more popular, because compared to a pessimist, he looks like a beautiful swan against an ugly duckling.

Pessimists are doing very poorly in their careers and business. They always plan for everything, warn partners or superiors about possible mistakes, and reveal all their weaknesses. Optimists greatly overestimate their own abilities, diligently promoting themselves. As a result, it is they who receive promotions and lucrative contracts, while pessimists become victims of their own forethought.

How to communicate with a pessimist?

Communication with a pessimist can be quite difficult, since negativity always comes from him. It is important to understand that he does not say this on purpose, but because he really sees the world in rather dark colors. This is the norm for him. Therefore, do not take his negativity personally and do not think that he is unpleasant to communicate with you. Don’t try to argue with him, but you don’t need to change your own views on life.

A pessimist is never sure that everything will work out well. He will always doubt his own capabilities and question your promises. There is no need to be offended by this, since it is not a matter of mistrust. A pessimist is simply a person who is always afraid that pleasant expectations will not come true. He prefers to believe in the bad - this way he is less likely to be disappointed.

The most important thing in dealing with a pessimist is not to try to correct him. We all love to help loved ones; many have a desire for mentoring and patronage. If the “teacher” in you has awakened, do not allow yourself to teach a pessimist. He will ignore any of your arguments, except for very specific actions. Just keep all your promises to him, showing that you are a person you can rely on. You won't be able to change him, but over time he will trust you much more.

Who is an optimist: the meaning of the concept

The word Optimus means good, the best. Therefore, an optimist is a person who, in a given situation, always sees only the best outcome and is determined to achieve a good result.

But optimists should not be confused with people who are constantly “on their own wavelength” and do not pay attention to life’s problems. This is simply irrationality, although psychologists say that this concept also falls under the category of “optimist.”

There are 2 types of optimists

1. A rational person soberly analyzes the situation, but tries to “steer out” of it so that everything turns out well. At the same time, he is firmly confident in a good outcome. He simply believes that he will be able to make the right choice and get out of this situation. If it doesn’t happen the way he wanted, then the optimist does not get upset, but continues to believe that next time everything will be fine;
2. An irrational optimist, when faced with a situation or problem, does not try to analyze it and solve it, but simply does nothing. He believes that higher powers will help him. Thus, the irrational optimist is confident that if he does nothing, everything will be fine.