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Half a glass of water, illustration of two different mental attitudes, optimism (half full) and pessimism (half empty) Optimism is an attitude reflecting a belief or hope that the outcome of some specific endeavor, or outcomes in general, will be positive, favorable, and desirable.
The term pessimism derives from the Latin word pessimus, meaning 'the worst'.It was first used by Jesuit critics of Voltaire's 1759 novel Candide, ou l'Optimisme.Voltaire was satirizing the philosophy of Leibniz who maintained that this was the 'best (optimum) of all possible worlds'.
Pessimism, on the other hand, is much more common; pessimists are more likely to give up in the face of adversity or to suffer from depression. Seligman invites pessimists to learn to be optimists by thinking about their reactions to adversity in a new way. The resulting optimism—one that grew from pessimism—is a learned optimism.
Cognitively, pessimistic headlines and stories reinforce our negativity bias, which, according to Ruiz-McPherson, "can lead to maladaptive thought patterns, including increased pessimism and ...
The Optimism Spectrum, Explained. On one end of this spectrum, you have persistent pessimism; on the other, you have toxic positivity. Those who fall into the latter camp “refuse to acknowledge ...
Nevertheless, pessimism still sounds intelligent and optimism dumb. I often feel embarrassed to admit that I’m an optimist. I imagine it knocks me down a peg or two in people’s estimations ...
Optimism may occur from either a distortion of personal estimates, representing personal optimism, or a distortion for others, representing personal pessimism. [4] Pessimism bias is an effect in which people exaggerate the likelihood that negative things will happen to them. It contrasts with optimism bias.
The word pessimism comes from Latin pessimus, meaning "the worst".The term "optimism" was first used to name Lebnitz's thesis that we live in "the best of all possible worlds"; and "pessimism" was coined to name the opposing view.