optimism essay definition

Optimism: Definition, Importance, and Meaning Essay

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Optimism is a trait that each of us should have, given its importance as a human personality. Although it is often ignored or taken lightly, optimism helps people to see opportunity during difficulties. By definition, optimism implies reacting to problems with a great sense of confidence and high personal ability. Winston Churchill’s said that a pessimist sees great difficulties in all opportunities, while an optimist is able to see opportunity in every difficulty (Scheier and Carver 1082). Recently, studies have tried to understand the impacts of optimism in both animal models and humans.

Most empirical research studies demonstrate that optimism has multiple advantages and impacts on humans. For instance, it improves immunity, prevent and halt the progression of certain chronic diseases, and help individuals cope with shocks and traumas. Closely associated with optimism is gratitude, which has also been shown to have such impacts as happiness, reduction of stress and depression, and improved social integration of people (Scheier and Carver 1082). The antonym of optimism is pessimism, which is closely associated with doubting and loss of hope. People with a high level of pessimism tend to score low on optimism. In turn, they achieve minimally, given that they do not have the ‘high spirits’ a characteristic associated with optimism. Consequently, it is arguable that optimism is a trait that we should all try to achieve, despite our personality differences, as a means of improving our health, relationships, and ability to tackle problems and difficulties in everyday life.

Normally, people do not pay much attention to what optimism entails. Indeed, few people take time to think about being optimistic in their daily activities. Rather, the common human behavior is to lose confidence or freak out when faced with difficult situations. Instead of reacting to problems with a sense of confidence and ability, we tend to develop hopelessness as we believe that we will eventually lose or fail to fight to the end (Scheier and Carver 1082). In essence, humans assume behavior that portrays the opposite of optimism. Therefore, people should be made aware of the importance of being optimistic at all times and the physiological, cognitive, and social benefits of optimism.

At this juncture, it is necessary to consider some of the proven benefits and impacts of optimism that people should be taught. Optimistic people tend to develop the belief that negative events are transient, manageable, and limited in their scope. Such people do not try to evade every aspect of a difficult situation. Optimism exists on a continuum, just like many other psychological characteristics and states common in humans (Gupta and Sagar 509). People who have low optimism scores can change and raise their levels depending 0n the prevailing situation. Those at the higher end of the optimism spectrum are optimists, while those on the lower end tend to be pessimists.

One of the major themes that appear in most of the recent studies about optimism that I have seen relate to its health impacts. Researchers have examined the various health benefits of optimism. Some researchers have found that every point increase in an individual’s optimism score decreases the risk of early death. It was found that people with chronic diseases and those at risk of sudden death, such as smokers, reduce their chances of dying by a significant margin when their confidence levels increase on the optimism scale (Biber et al. 1948). Such studies indicate that personality and psychological characteristics, as shown by the level of optimism, can play a significant role in protecting people from early and sudden death. In essence, optimism and the related characteristics such as confidence and hopefulness produce protective effect to people at risk of death.

Additional studies have shown that optimism plays an important role in the recovery process, especially during disease and illnesses. In particular, chronic diseases like cancer are widely considered when conducting such studies. In general, the outcomes of these research projects have suggested a strong link between high levels of optimism and minimal experience of distress even when facing potentially life-threating diagnosis and painful treatments. Cancer patients with a superior fighting spirit tend to have better quality of life several months after treatment for various forms of cancer.

Moreover, other studies have shown that high levels of optimism tend to predict minimal disruption of normal life, fatigue, and distress on people undergoing painful treatment of diseases like cancer (Philbin and Perez-Brumer 72). The characteristic, together with confidence and state of high hopes, appear to protect people against an urge to withdraw from certain social activities that are important to the healing process. Those with high levels of optimism are able to be more mindful of their welfare. Moreover, additional studies have shown that such individuals achieve high sleep quality, which is important in the healing process. Other studies have examined the relationship between optimism and the development of chronic diseases. Results from such studies indicate that people with low levels of optimism or those with high scores of pessimisms are more likely to experience such conditions as thickening arteries, which is a risk to cardiac diseases and early death.

Optimism is also associated with an improved immune system. For elderly people, those who receive immunization against such diseases as influenza develop immunity after a few weeks if they have high levels of optimism. Immune responses seem to have a strong link with high levels of confidence and optimism in people living with conditions that attract stigmatization in their societies. For example, some studies have shown that high levels of confidence and optimism in people living with HIV tend to confer higher immune responses than those with high levels of pessimism. It has been established that optimistic people with HIV tend to have low mortality rates and a slow progression of the infection. Such people achieve high levels of helper T cells, which are immune cells in the body that plays a major role in suppressing the progression of HIV (Scheier and Carver 1082). Optimistic people’s immune system increases significantly when faced with life threatening conditions such as development of another condition such as asthma and diabetes. Since they have always been confident and optimism, they tend to use the same perceptions and spirit to fight the new health challenges facing them.

Psychologically, optimism plays an important role in giving people energy and raising their spirits when coping with difficult life events and challenges. It has been linked to better responses to mild and extreme events such as missile attacks and terrorism. It has a protective role in which people use extraordinary methods of coping with disasters, violence, and other traumatizing events. Moreover, it strongly correlates with self-esteem and life satisfaction (Scheier and Carver 1082). These findings suggest that optimism is related to positive effect, implying that people high confidence levels have happier lives even when they are facing challenges.

In conclusion, I think we have always ignored the importance of being optimistic in our lives. People tend to shy away or fear facing challenges and difficult situations. Without optimism, people will not develop high spirits to fight problems and issues in life. Instead, they shy avoid taking steps to improve the situation, which ends in losing. On the contrary, those with high levels of optimism are likely to have the spirit to challenge the problems coming their way, eventually winning the battle for survival.

Works Cited

Biber, Duke D., Bridget Melton, and Daniel R. Czech. “ The impact of COVID-19 on college anxiety, optimism, gratitude, and course satisfaction .” Journal of American College Health 70.7 (2022): 1947-1952. Web.

Gupta, Snehil, and Rajesh Sagar. “National mental health programme-optimism and caution: a narrative review.” Indian journal of psychological medicine 40.6 (2018): 509-516. Web.

Philbin, Morgan M., and Amaya Perez-Brumer. “Promise, perils and cautious optimism: the next frontier in long-acting modalities for the treatment and prevention of HIV.” Current Opinion in HIV and AIDS 17.2 (2022): 72.

Scheier, Michael F., and Charles S. Carver. “ Dispositional optimism and physical health: A long look back, a quick look forward .” American Psychologist 73.9 (2018): 1082. Web.

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Essay on Optimism

Students are often asked to write an essay on Optimism in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Optimism

Understanding optimism.

Optimism is a hopeful outlook towards life. It is choosing to see the bright side of things and expecting the best possible outcome.

The Power of Optimism

Optimism can boost our mood and motivation. It helps us to persevere and overcome challenges. Optimistic people are happier, healthier, and more successful.

Practicing Optimism

We can practice optimism by focusing on positive thoughts, expressing gratitude, and staying hopeful. Remember, even in tough times, there’s always something good to look forward to.

Also check:

250 Words Essay on Optimism

The concept of optimism, a mental attitude reflecting a belief or hope that the outcome of specific endeavors will be positive, is not just a mindset but a powerful tool that shapes our perception of the world. It is a beacon of light in the face of adversity, a guiding principle that encourages resilience and perseverance.

Optimism and Psychological Well-being

Optimism plays a pivotal role in psychological well-being. It is closely linked to mental health, as it can reduce the risk of depression, anxiety, and other psychological disorders. Optimists tend to see challenges as temporary hurdles, not as insurmountable obstacles. This positive outlook enables them to maintain a healthier psychological state, even in the face of adversity.

Optimism and Physical Health

Not only does optimism impact mental health, but it also has profound effects on physical well-being. Studies show that optimists generally have better cardiovascular health and stronger immune systems. They are less likely to succumb to chronic diseases and have a higher life expectancy. Their positive outlook motivates them to maintain a healthier lifestyle, thus contributing to improved physical health.

Optimism: A Catalyst for Success

In the realm of success, optimism acts as a catalyst. It encourages risk-taking, fosters resilience, and promotes a growth mindset. Optimists view failures as learning opportunities, not as a reflection of their abilities. This outlook cultivates an environment of innovation and progress, leading to greater personal and professional success.

In conclusion, optimism is not just a positive attitude but a life-enhancing tool. It is a testament to the power of the human mind and its ability to shape our reality. By embracing optimism, we can improve our mental and physical health, foster resilience, and pave the way for success.

500 Words Essay on Optimism

Introduction.

Optimism, a term derived from the Latin word “optimum,” is a psychological attribute that reflects an individual’s positive perspective towards life. It is the tendency to perceive the glass as half-full rather than half-empty. This essay explores the concept of optimism, its implications, benefits, and the role it plays in shaping our lives.

The Concept of Optimism

The power of positive thinking.

Positive thinking, a cornerstone of optimism, is not about ignoring life’s less pleasant situations. Instead, it involves approaching these circumstances with a positive and productive mindset. Optimists believe they can navigate through difficulties and find solutions. This perspective can significantly impact our physical and mental health, relationships, and overall quality of life.

Implications of Optimism

Optimism has profound implications for various aspects of life. It is associated with better health outcomes, increased longevity, higher levels of happiness, and improved coping skills. Optimists tend to have stronger immune systems, lower levels of stress and depression, and higher overall well-being. Furthermore, optimism can enhance academic and professional performance by fostering persistence, engagement, and a proactive attitude.

Optimism and Resilience

Optimism: a skill to be cultivated.

While some people may naturally have a more optimistic outlook, optimism can also be nurtured and developed. Cognitive-behavioral techniques, mindfulness practices, and gratitude exercises can help cultivate optimism. The key is to challenge negative thought patterns and replace them with more positive, constructive ones.

In conclusion, optimism is a powerful psychological attribute that can significantly influence our life experiences. It is not merely a passive expectation of positive outcomes but an active engagement in life, fostering resilience, enhancing well-being, and promoting success. As we navigate through the complexities of life, cultivating an optimistic outlook can serve as a guiding light, illuminating the path to personal growth and fulfillment.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

Happy studying!

What Is Optimism?

How Optimism Affects Your Physical and Mental Health

Tim Robberts / Getty Images

Signs of Optimism

Are you an optimist or pessimist, causes of optimism.

How to Practice

Impact of Optimism

Potential pitfalls.

Optimism is a mental attitude characterized by hope and confidence in success and a positive future. Optimists tend to view hardships as learning experiences or temporary setbacks. Even the most miserable day holds the promise for them that "tomorrow will probably be better."

Optimists expect good things to happen, whereas pessimists instead predict unfavorable outcomes. Optimistic attitudes are linked to several benefits, including better coping skills, lower stress levels, better physical health, and higher persistence when pursuing goals.

If you always see the brighter side of things, you may experience more positive events in your life than others, find yourself less stressed, and even enjoy more significant health benefits.

There are many key characteristics that optimists tend to share. Some signs that you tend to be optimistic:

You feel that good things will happen in the future.
You expect things to work out for the best.
You feel like you will succeed in the face of life's challenges.
You feel that the future looks bright.
You think that even good things can come from adverse events.
You see challenges or obstacles as opportunities to learn.
You feel gratitude for the good things in your life.
You are always looking for ways to make the most of opportunities.
You have a positive attitude about yourself and others.
You accept responsibility for mistakes but don't dwell on them.
You don't let one bad experience muddy your expectations for the future.

An example of optimism is believing that there will always be opportunities to make things better tomorrow, even if you are experiencing challenges today.

Take our fast and free quiz to find out if you are more of an optimist or pessimist.

The exact causes of optimism are not fully understood, but several factors likely play a role. Genetics, upbringing, culture, and other environmental influences can influence optimism.

According to one twin study, genetics account for around 25% of optimism. Another study found that age is an important determinant, with optimism increasing through young adulthood, leveling off between ages 55 and 70, and then declining in older adulthood.

Research has also shown that optimism and pessimism are influenced by neurophysiology. Optimistic attitudes are associated with activity in the lef-hemisphere of the brain, while pessimistic characteristics are connected to activity in the right hemisphere.

Explanatory Styles

Many factors influence optimism, but whether you tend to be more of an optimist or more of a pessimist can often be explained by how you explain the events of your life.

Explanatory style or attributional style refers to how people explain the events of their lives. There are three facets of how people can explain a situation. This can influence whether they lean toward being optimists or pessimists:

Stable vs. Unstable: Can time change things, or do things stay the same regardless of time?
Global vs. Local: Is a situation a reflection of just one part of your life, or your life as a whole?
Internal vs. External: Do you feel events are caused by you or by an outside force?

Realists see things relatively clearly, but most of us aren’t realists. Instead, we tend to attribute the events in our lives either optimistically or pessimistically.

Optimist Explanatory Style

Optimists explain positive events as having happened because of their own actions or characteristics (internal). They also see them as evidence that more positive things will happen in the future (stable) and in other areas of their lives (global).

Conversely, they see negative events as not being their fault (external). They also see them as being flukes (isolated) that have nothing to do with other areas of their lives or future events (local).

For example, if an optimist gets a promotion, they will likely believe it’s because they are good at their job and will receive more benefits and promotions in the future. If they are passed over for the promotion, it’s likely because they were having an bad month because of extenuating circumstances, but will do better in the future.

Pessimist Explanatory Style

Pessimists think in the opposite way. They believe that negative events are caused by their own mistakes or traits (internal). They believe that one mistake means more will come (stable), and mistakes in other areas of life are inevitable (global) because they are the cause. They see positive events as flukes (local) that are caused by things outside their control (external) and probably won’t happen again (unstable).

A pessimist would see a promotion as a lucky event that probably won’t happen again, and may even worry that they’ll now be under more scrutiny. Being passed over for a promotion would probably be explained as not being skilled enough. They would, therefore, expect to be passed over again.

Attribute positive events to internal causes

Attribute negative events to external causes

Believe that good things will happen in the future

Tend to view bad things as mistakes or random flukes

Attribute positive events to external causes

Attribute negative events to internal causes

Believe that bad things will happen in the future

Tend to see good things as mistakes or flukes

How to Practice Optimism

Understandably, if you’re an optimist, this bodes well for your future. Negative events are more likely to roll off of your back while positive events affirm your belief in yourself, your ability to make good things happen now and in the future, and in the goodness of life.

Research suggests that genetics determine about 25% of your optimism levels and environmental variables out of your control—such as your socioeconomic status—also play an important role. But this doesn't mean that you can't actively improve your attitude.

While you might tend to have either an optimistic or pessimistic explanatory style, there are things that you can do the help cultivate a more optimistic attitude. These include:

Become more mindful : Mindfulness is a focus on being engaged, attentive, and present in the here and now. It can be a useful technique to help you focus on what matters in the present and avoid worrying about future events and things that are outside of your control. If you are living fully in the moment, you are much less likely to ruminate over negative past experiences or worry about upcoming events. This allows you to feel more appreciative of what you have now and less consumed with regrets and anxieties.
Practice gratitude : Gratitude can be defined as an appreciation for what is important in life. One study found that participants who were assigned to write in a gratitude journal showed increased optimism and resilience . If you are trying to develop a more optimistic attitude, set aside a few minutes each day to jot down some of the things for which you are grateful.
Write down your positive emotions : Research has shown that something as simple as writing down positive thoughts can help improve your optimism. One study found that expressive writing focused on positive emotions was linked to decreased mental distress and improved mental well-being.

It is also possible to develop learned optimism . Pessimists can essentially learn to be optimists by thinking about their reactions to adversity in a new way and consciously challenge negative self-talk.

Cognitive Restructuring

Using a practice called cognitive restructuring , you can help yourself and others become more optimistic by consciously challenging negative, self-limiting thinking and replacing it with more optimistic thought patterns.

The process of cognitive restructuring involves a few different steps:

Identify the situations that are triggering negative thoughts or moods.
Assess how you are feeling in the moment.
Identify the negative thoughts that you are having in response to the situation.
Look at the evidence to either support or refute your negative thoughts.
Focus on the objective facts, and replace automatic negative thoughts with more positive, realistic ones.

Optimism is important because it can have such a significant impact on your mental and physical well-being. Research has shown that an optimistic worldview carries certain advantages, such as better health, greater achievement, less stress, and greater longevity.

Better Health

Studies regularly show that optimists are more likely to maintain better physical health than pessimists, including a 50% lower risk of cardiovascular disease and greater survival rates when fighting cancer. Some studies have also linked a pessimistic explanatory style with higher rates of infectious disease, poor health, and earlier mortality.

Greater Achievement

Psychologist Martin Seligman, the founding father of positive psychology , analyzed sports teams and found that the more optimistic teams created more positive synergy and performed better than the pessimistic ones .

Another study showed that pessimistic swimmers who were led to believe they’d done worse than they had were prone to future poor performance. Optimistic swimmers didn’t have this vulnerability.

Persistence

Optimists don’t give up as easily as pessimists, and they are more likely to achieve success because of it. People with optimistic attitudes are more likely to continue working toward their goals, even in the face of obstacles, challenges, and setbacks. Such persistence ultimately means that they are more likely to accomplish their goals.

Emotional Health

Research suggests that cognitive therapy (which involves reframing a person's thought processes) can be as effective or more effective than antidepressant medications in the treatment of clinical depression .

Such improvements also tend to be long-lasting, suggesting that they are more than a temporary fix. People with this optimism training appear to be better able to handle future setbacks effectively.

Increased Longevity

In a retrospective study of 34 healthy Hall of Fame baseball players who played between 1900 and 1950, optimists lived significantly longer. Other studies have shown that optimistic breast cancer patients had a better quality of life than pessimistic and hopeless patients.

Less Stress

Optimists also tend to experience less stress than pessimists or realists. Because they believe in themselves and their abilities, they expect good things to happen. They see negative events as minor setbacks to be easily overcome and view positive events as evidence of further good things to come. Believing in themselves, they also take more risks and create more positive events in their lives.

Research shows that optimists are more proactive with stress management . They tend to favor approaches that reduce or eliminate stressors and their emotional consequences. Because optimists work harder at stress management, they are less stressed.

Optimism is generally a positive characteristic that confers a number of physical and mental health benefits. But this does not mean that is doesn't have a few potential pitfalls. Some ways that optimism can be detrimental include:

Optimism bias : Sometimes excessive optimism can lead people to overestimate the likelihood that they can experience good things while avoiding bad things. The optimism bias suggests that people often underestimate their risk of experiencing negative outcomes. This can sometimes lead people to engage in risky behaviors that actually increase their chances of having a bad outcome.
Poor risk assessment : When people are overly optimistic about something, they may be less likely to think about all of the potential risks and take steps to mitigate those issues. This can ultimately make it more likely that their efforts might fail, or at least run into major problems along the way.
Toxic positivity : Sometimes people tend to overvalue positive feelings while ignoring or even repressing negative ones. It can also cause people to invalidate the emotional experiences of people who are going through difficult times.

Optimists can avoid some of these pitfalls by focusing on maintaining a healthy, realistic approach to positivity. Rather than focusing only on "staying positive" and ignoring other emotions, the goal should be to try to look on the bright side while still acknowledging the difficulties of the situation.

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By Elizabeth Scott, PhD Elizabeth Scott, PhD is an author, workshop leader, educator, and award-winning blogger on stress management, positive psychology, relationships, and emotional wellbeing.

Helen Keller on Optimism

By maria popova.

She opens the first half of the book, Optimism Within , by reflecting on the universal quest for happiness, that alluring and often elusive art-science at the heart of all human aspiration:

Could we choose our environment, and were desire in human undertakings synonymous with endowment, all men would, I suppose, be optimists. Certainly most of us regard happiness as the proper end of all earthly enterprise. The will to be happy animates alike the philosopher, the prince and the chimney-sweep. No matter how dull, or how mean, or how wise a man is, he feels that happiness is his indisputable right.

But Keller admonishes against the “what-if” mentality that pegs our happiness on the attainment of material possession , which always proves vacant , rather than on accessing a deeper sense of purpose :

Most people measure their happiness in terms of physical pleasure and material possession. Could they win some visible goal which they have set on the horizon, how happy they could be! Lacking this gift or that circumstance, they would be miserable. If happiness is to be so measured, I who cannot hear or see have every reason to sit in a corner with folded hands and weep. If I am happy in spite of my deprivations, if my happiness is so deep that it is a faith, so thoughtful that it becomes a philosophy of life, — if, in short, I am an optimist, my testimony to the creed of optimism is worth hearing.

Recounting her own miraculous blossoming from the inner captivity of a deaf-mute to the intellectual height of a cultural luminary, she brings exquisite earnestness to this rhetorical question:

Once I knew only darkness and stillness. Now I know hope and joy. Once I fretted and beat myself against the wall that shut me in. Now I rejoice in the consciousness that I can think, act and attain heaven. … Can anyone who escaped such captivity, who has felt the thrill and glory of freedom, be a pessimist? My early experience was thus a leap from bad to good. If I tried, I could not check the momentum of my first leap out of the dark; to move breast forward as a habit learned suddenly at that first moment of release and rush into the light. With the first word I used intelligently, I learned to live, to think, to hope.

Still, Keller is careful to distinguish between intelligent and reckless optimism:

Optimism that does not count the cost is like a house builded on sand. A man must understand evil and be acquainted with sorrow before he can write himself an optimist and expect others to believe that he has reason for the faith that is in him.

Reflecting once again on her own experience, she argues that, much like the habits of mind William James advocated for as the secret of life , optimism is a choice:

I know what evil is. Once or twice I have wrestled with it, and for a time felt its chilling touch on my life; so I speak with knowledge when I say that evil is of no consequence, except as a sort of mental gymnastic. For the very reason that I have come in contact with it, I am more truly an optimist. I can say with conviction that the struggle which evil necessitates is one of the greatest blessings. It makes us strong, patient, helpful men and women. It lets us into the soul of things and teaches us that although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it. My optimism, then, does not rest on the absence of evil, but on a glad belief in the preponderance of good and a willing effort always to cooperate with the good, that it may prevail. I try to increase the power God has given me to see the best in everything and every one, and make that Best a part of my life. The world is sown with good; but unless I turn my glad thoughts into practical living and till my own field, I cannot reap a kernel of the good.

Keller explores the two anchors of optimism — one’s inner life and the outer world — and admonishes against the toxic nature of doubt :

I demand that the world be good, and lo, it obeys. I proclaim the world good, and facts range themselves to prove my proclamation overwhelmingly true. To what good I open the doors of my being, and jealously shut them against what is bad. Such is the force of this beautiful and willful conviction, it carries itself in the face of all opposition. I am never discouraged by absence of good. I never can be argued into hopelessness. Doubt and mistrust are the mere panic of timid imagination, which the steadfast heart will conquer, and the large mind transcend.

Like Isabel Allende, who sees creativity as order to the chaos of life , Keller riffs on Carlyle and argues for creative enterprise as a source of optimism:

Work, production, brings life out of chaos, makes the individual a world, an order; and order is optimism.

And yet she is sure to caution against the cult of productivity , a reminder all the timelier today as we often squander presence in favor of productivity , and uses Darwin’s famed daily routine to make her point:

Darwin could work only half an hour at a time; yet in many diligent half-hours he laid anew the foundations of philosophy. I long to accomplish a great and noble task; but it is my chief duty and joy to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. It is my service to think how I can best fulfill the demands that each day makes upon me, and to rejoice that others can do what I cannot.

She sees optimism, like Italo Calvino did literature , as a collective enterprise:

I love the good that others do; for their activity is an assurance that whether I can help or not, the true and the good will stand sure.

Though her tone at times may appear to be overly religious on the surface, Keller’s skew is rather philosophical, demonstrating that, not unlike science has a spiritual quality , optimism is a kind of secular religion:

I trust, and nothing that happens disturbs my trust. I recognize the beneficence of the power which we all worship as supreme — Order, Fate, the Great Spirit, Nature, God. I recognize this power in the sun that makes all things grow and keeps life afoot. I make a friend of this indefinable force, and straightway I feel glad, brave and ready for any lot Heaven may decree for me. This is my religion of optimism. […] Deep, solemn optimism, it seems to me, should spring from this firm belief in the presence of God in the individual; not a remote, unapproachable governor of the universe, but a God who is very near every one of us, who is present not only in earth, sea and sky, but also in every pure and noble impulse of our hearts, “the source and centre of all minds, their only point of rest.”

In the second half of the book, Optimism Without , she makes an eloquent addition to these notable definitions of philosophy and touches on the ancient quandary of whether what we perceive as external reality might be an illusion :

Philosophy is the history of a deaf-blind person writ large. From the talks of Socrates up through Plato, Berkeley and Kant, philosophy records the efforts of human intelligence to be free of the clogging material world and fly forth into a universe of pure idea. A deaf-blind person ought to find special meaning in Plato’s Ideal World . These things which you see and hear and touch are not the reality of realities, but imperfect manifestations of the Idea, the Principal, the Spiritual; the Idea is the truth, the rest is delusion.

Much like legendary filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky advised the young to learn to enjoy their own company , Keller argues for philosophy as the gateway to finding richness in life without leaving one’s self — an art all the more important in the age of living alone . She writes:

My brethren who enjoy the fullest use of the senses are not aware of any reality which may not equally well be in reach of my mind. Philosophy gives to the mind the prerogative of seeing truth, and bears us not a realm where I, who am blind, and not different from you who see. … It seemed to me that philosophy had been written for my special consolation, whereby I get even with some modern philosophers who apparently think that I was intended as an experimental case for their special instruction! But in a little measure my small voice of individual experience does join in the declaration of philosophy that the good is the only world, and that world is a world of spirit. It is also a universe where order is All, where an unbroken logic holds the parts together, where distance defines itself as non-existence, where evil, as St. Augustine held, is delusion, and therefore is not. The meaning of philosophy to me is not only its principles, but also in the happy isolation of its great expounders. They were seldom of the world, even when like Plato and Leibnitz they moved in its courts and drawing rooms. To the tumult of life they were deaf, and they were blind to its distraction and perplexing diversities. Sitting alone, but not in darkness, they learned to find everything in themselves…

In a sentiment Neil deGrasse Tyson would come to echo more than a century later in his articulate case for why our smallness amidst the cosmos should be a source of assurance rather than anxiety , Keller observes:

Thus from the philosophy I learn that we see only shadows and know only in part, and that all things change; but the mind, the unconquerable mind, compasses all truth, embraces the universe as it is, converts the shadows to realities and makes tumultuous changes seem but moments in an eternal silence, or short lines in the infinite theme of perfection, and the evil but “a halt on the way to good.” Though with my hand I grasp only a small part of the universe, with my spirit I see the whole, and in my thought I can compass the beneficent laws by which it is governed. The confidence and trust which these conceptions inspire teach me to rest safe in my life as in a fate, and protect me from spectral doubts and fears.

Keller argues of America as a mecca of optimism. And yet, as hearteningly patriotic as her case may be, a look at the present state of the plight of marriage equality , the gaping wound of income inequality , and the indignity of immigrants’ struggles (of whom I am one) reveals how much further we have to go to live up to this optimistic ideal:

It is true, America has devoted herself largely to the solution of material problems — breaking the fields, opening mines, irrigating the deserts, spanning the continent with railroads; but she is doing these things in a new way, by educating her people, by placing at the service of every man’s need every resource of human skill. She is transmuting her industrial wealth into the education of her workmen, so that unskilled people shall have no place in American life, so that all men shall bring mind and soul to the control of matter. Her children are not drudges and slaves. The Constitution has declared it, and the spirit of our institutions has confirmed it. The best the land can teach them they shall know. They shall learn that there is no upper class in their country, and no lower, and they shall understand how it is that God and His world are for everybody. America might do all this, and still be selfish, still be a worshipper of Mammon. But America is the home of charity as well as commerce. … Who shall measure the sympathy, skill and intelligence with which she ministers to all who come to her, and lessens the ever-swelling tide of poverty, misery and degradation which every year rolls against her gates from all the nations? When I reflect on all these facts, I cannot but think that, Tolstoi and other theorists to the contrary, it is a splendid thing to be an American. In America the optimist finds abundant reason for confidence in the present and hope for the future, and this hope, this confidence, may well extend over all the great nations of the earth.

Further on, she adds, “It is significant that the foundation of that law is optimistic” — and yet what more pessimistic a law than an immigration policy based on the assumption that if left to their own devices, more immigrants would do harm than would do good, what sadder than a policy built on the belief that affording love the freedom of equality would result in destruction rather than dignity?

Still, some of Keller’s seemingly over-optimistic contentions have been since confirmed by modern science — for instance, the decline of violence , which she rightly observes:

If we compare our own time with the past, we find in modern statistics a solid foundation for a confident and buoyant world-optimism. Beneath the doubt, the unrest, the materialism, which surround us still glows and burns at the world’s best life a steadfast faith. […] During the past fifty years crime has decreased. True, the records of to-day contain a longer list of crime. But our statistics are more complete and accurate than the statistics of times past. Besides, there are many offenses on the list which half a century ago would not have been thought of as crimes. This shows that the public conscience is more sensitive than it ever was. Our definition of crime has grown stricter,* our punishment of it more lenient and intelligent. The old feeling of revenge has largely disappeared. It is no longer an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. The criminal is treated as one who is diseased. He is confined not merely for punishment, but because he is a menace to society. While he is under restraint, he is treated with human care and disciplined so that his mind shall be cured of its disease, and he shall be restored to society able to do his part of its work.

* Though this may be mostly true on a theoretical level, practical disgraces to democracy like the epidemic of rape in the military offer a tragic counterpoint.

In reflecting on the relationship between education and the good life , Keller argues for the broadening of education from an industrial model of rote memorization to fostering “scholars who can link the unlinkable” . Though this ideal, too, is a long way from reality today , Keller’s words shine as a timeless guiding light to aspire toward:

Education broadens to include all men, and deepens to teach all truths. Scholars are no longer confined to Greek, Latin and mathematics, but they also study science converts the dreams of the poet, the theory of the mathematician and the fiction of the economist into ships, hospitals and instruments that enable one skilled hand to perform the work of a thousand. The student of to-day is not asked if he has learned his grammar. Is he a mere grammar machine, a dry catalogue of scientific facts, or has he acquired the qualities of manliness? His supreme lesson is to grapple with great public questions, to keep his mind hospitable to new idea and new views of truth, to restore the finer ideals that are lost sight of in the struggle for wealth and to promote justice between man and man. He learns that there may be substitutes for human labor — horse-power and machinery and books; but “there are no substitutes for common sense, patience, integrity, courage.”

In a sentiment philosopher Judith Butler would come to second in her fantastic recent commencement address on the value of the humanities as a tool of empathy , Keller argues:

The highest result of education is tolerance. Long ago men fought and died for their faith; but it took ages to teach them the other kind of courage — the courage to recognize the faiths of their brethren and their rights of conscience. Tolerance is the first principle of community; it is the spirit which conserves the best that all men think. No loss by flood and lightening, no destruction of cities and temples by the hostile forces of nature, has deprived man of so many noble lives and impulses as those which his tolerance has destroyed.

“However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light,” Stanley Kubrick memorably asserted , and it’s hard not to see in his words an echo of Keller’s legacy. She presages the kernel of Martin Seligman’s seminal concept of learned optimism and writes:

The test of all beliefs is their practical effect in life. If it be true that optimism compels the world forward, and pessimism retards it, then it is dangerous to propagate a pessimistic philosophy. One who believes that the pain in the world outweighs the joy, and expresses that unhappy conviction, only adds to the pain. … Life is a fair field, and the right will prosper if we stand by our guns. Let pessimism once take hold of the mind, and life is all topsy-turvy, all vanity and vexation of spirit. … If I regarded my life from the point of view of the pessimist, I should be undone. I should seek in vain for the light that does not visit my eyes and the music that does not ring in my ears. I should beg night and day and never be satisfied. I should sit apart in awful solitude, a prey to fear and despair. But since I consider it a duty to myself and to others to be happy, I escape a misery worse than any physical deprivation.

In the final and most practical part of the book, The Practice of Optimism , Keller urges:

Who shall dare let his incapacity for hope or goodness cast a shadow upon the courage of those who bear their burdens as if they were privileges? The optimist cannot fall back, cannot falter; for he knows his neighbor will be hindered by his failure to keep in line. He will therefore hold his place fearlessly and remember the duty of silence. Sufficient unto each heart is its own sorrow. He will take the iron claws of circumstance in his hand and use them as tools to break away the obstacle that block his path. He will work as if upon him alone depended the establishment of heaven and earth.

She once again return to the notion of optimism as a collective good rather than merely an individual choice, even a national asset:

Every optimist moves along with progress and hastens it, while every pessimist would keep the worlds at a standstill. The consequence of pessimism in the life of a nation is the same as in the life of the individual. Pessimism kills the instinct that urges men to struggle against poverty, ignorance and crime, and dries up all the fountains of joy in the world. […] Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope.

In an ever-timelier remark in our age of fear-mongering sensationalism in the news — a remark E. B. White would come to second decades later in arguing that a writer “should tend to lift people up, not lower them down” — Keller points to the responsibility of the press in upholding its share of this collective enterprise:

Our newspapers should remember this. The press is the pulpit of the modern world, and on the preachers who fill it much depends. If the protest of the press against unrighteous measures is to avail, then for ninety nine days the word of the preacher should be buoyant and of good cheer, so that on the hundredth day the voice of censure may be a hundred times strong.

Keller ends on a note of inextinguishable faith in the human spirit and timeless hope for the future of our world:

As I stand in the sunshine if a sincere and earnest optimism, my imagination “paints yet more glorious triumphs on the cloud-curtain of the future.” Out of the fierce struggle and turmoil of contending systems and powers I see a brighter spiritual era slowly emerge —an era in which there shall be no England, no France, no Germany, no America, no this people or that, but one family, the human race; one law, peace; one need, harmony; one means, labor…

Pair Optimism — which is available as a free download in multiple formats from Project Gutenberg — with these 7 heartening reads on the subject , then revisit Keller’s stirring first experience of dance and her memorable meeting with Mark Twain , who later became her creative champion and confidante .

— Published June 21, 2013 — https://www.themarginalian.org/2013/06/21/helen-keller-on-optimism/ —

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119 Optimism Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Inside This Article

Optimism is a powerful mindset that can greatly impact your life in a positive way. It's the belief that things will work out for the best, even in difficult times. If you're struggling to find inspiration for an essay on optimism, here are 119 topic ideas and examples to help you get started.

The power of positive thinking in overcoming challenges
How to cultivate optimism in your daily life
The benefits of having an optimistic outlook
The impact of optimism on mental health
Finding hope in the midst of adversity
The role of optimism in achieving success
Overcoming self-doubt through optimism
How optimism can improve relationships
The connection between optimism and resilience
The science behind why optimism is good for you
The importance of staying positive during tough times
How optimism can change your perspective on life
Using optimism as a tool for personal growth
The role of optimism in creating a fulfilling life
Finding silver linings in difficult situations
The link between optimism and happiness
How to maintain optimism in the face of uncertainty
The power of optimism in achieving your goals
Overcoming setbacks with a positive mindset
The impact of optimism on physical health
Finding joy in the little things through optimism
Cultivating gratitude as a form of optimism
The role of optimism in building resilience in children
The connection between optimism and creativity
Using optimism to overcome fear and anxiety
The benefits of practicing optimism daily
How optimism can help you bounce back from failure
The role of optimism in shaping your future
The impact of negative thinking on your mindset
Finding hope and inspiration through optimism
The connection between optimism and motivation
Overcoming pessimism with a positive attitude
The role of optimism in building confidence
The link between optimism and personal empowerment
Using optimism to navigate life's challenges
The impact of optimism on decision-making
The benefits of seeing the glass half full
How optimism can improve your overall well-being
Overcoming adversity through the power of optimism
The role of optimism in creating a sense of purpose
Finding resilience in times of uncertainty through optimism
The connection between optimism and self-care
The power of optimism in creating a supportive community
How optimism can help you overcome limiting beliefs
The impact of optimism on stress management
Using optimism to cultivate a growth mindset
The benefits of having a positive attitude in life
Overcoming challenges with a hopeful outlook
The role of optimism in building emotional intelligence
Finding peace and contentment through optimism
The connection between optimism and success in relationships
Using optimism to navigate change and uncertainty
The impact of optimism on your overall mindset
Cultivating self-love and acceptance through optimism
The benefits of looking on the bright side of things
Overcoming self-limiting beliefs through optimism
The role of optimism in creating a sense of purpose and meaning
The connection between optimism and personal growth
Using optimism to overcome fear and doubt
The impact of optimism on your mental and emotional well-being
Finding inspiration and motivation through optimism
The benefits of having a positive outlook on life
Overcoming adversity with a hopeful mindset
The role of optimism in achieving your dreams and goals
The connection between optimism and resilience in the face of challenges
Using optimism to create a sense of abundance and gratitude
The impact of optimism on your overall happiness and fulfillment
Cultivating a sense of hope and possibility through optimism
The benefits of maintaining a positive attitude in difficult times
Overcoming self-doubt and insecurity with a hopeful outlook
The role of optimism in building confidence and self-esteem
The connection between optimism and personal empowerment and agency
Using optimism to overcome fear and anxiety in uncertain times
The impact of optimism on your physical health and well-being
Finding joy and fulfillment in life through a positive mindset
The benefits of practicing optimism daily as a form of self-care
Overcoming challenges and setbacks with a hopeful attitude
The role of optimism in creating a sense of purpose and meaning in life
The connection between optimism and personal growth and development
Using optimism to cultivate a sense of gratitude and abundance
The impact of optimism on your overall mindset and outlook on life
Cultivating resilience and perseverance through a positive attitude
The benefits of having a hopeful outlook in challenging times
Overcoming self-limiting beliefs and negative thought patterns with optimism
The role of optimism in building emotional intelligence and self-awareness
The connection between optimism and success in relationships and communication
Using optimism to navigate change and uncertainty with grace and resilience
The impact of optimism on your mental and emotional well-being and overall health
Finding inspiration and motivation to overcome obstacles and achieve your goals
The benefits of maintaining a positive attitude and mindset in all areas of your life
Overcoming adversity and challenges with a hopeful and determined spirit
The role of optimism in creating a sense of purpose and direction in life
The connection between optimism and personal growth and transformation
Using optimism to overcome fear and doubt in pursuit of your dreams and aspirations
The impact of optimism on your overall happiness, fulfillment, and well-being
Cultivating a sense of hope, possibility, and abundance through optimism
The benefits of practicing optimism as a form of self-care and personal development
Overcoming self-doubt, insecurity, and negative self-talk with a positive mindset
The role of optimism in building confidence, self-esteem, and self-empowerment
The connection between optimism and resilience, perseverance, and adaptability
Using optimism to overcome fear, anxiety, and uncertainty with courage and strength
The impact of optimism on your physical health, mental health, and emotional well-being
Finding joy, fulfillment, and contentment in life through a hopeful and grateful heart
The benefits of maintaining a positive attitude and outlook on life in all circumstances
Overcoming challenges, setbacks, and obstacles with a determined and optimistic spirit
The role of optimism in creating a sense of purpose, meaning, and fulfillment in life
The connection between optimism and personal growth, development, and transformation
Using optimism to cultivate gratitude, abundance, and resilience in the face of adversity
The impact of optimism on your mindset, perspective, and overall quality of life
Cultivating self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and strength through a positive attitude
The benefits of having a hopeful and optimistic outlook on relationships, communication, and connection
Overcoming self-limiting beliefs, negative thought patterns, and self-sabotage with a mindset of possibility and opportunity
The role of optimism in building confidence, self-esteem, and self-empowerment in all areas of your life
The connection between optimism and resilience, perseverance, adaptability, and strength in navigating life's challenges
Using optimism to overcome fear, doubt, anxiety, and uncertainty with courage, grace, and determination
The impact of optimism on your physical health, mental health, emotional well-being, and overall sense of fulfillment and happiness
Finding joy, contentment, peace, and abundance in life through a grateful heart, a hopeful spirit, and a positive attitude
The benefits of practicing optimism as a form of self-care, personal development, and growth in all aspects of your life
Overcoming challenges, setbacks, obstacles, and adversity with a resilient, determined, and optimistic mindset and outlook on life

In conclusion, optimism is a powerful mindset that can help you overcome challenges, find joy in life, and achieve your goals. By cultivating a positive attitude and outlook on life, you can create a sense of hope, possibility, and abundance that will carry you through even the toughest times. So, whether you're writing an essay on optimism or simply looking to improve your own mindset, these topic ideas and examples can help inspire you to embrace the power of positive thinking.

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Optimism: Definition, Measurement, Impact, and Factors Contributing to Individual Differences

Optimism is a positive attitude or outlook on life that has been linked to numerous positive outcomes. This paper provides an overview of optimism, including its definition, measurement, impact on health and well-being, and factors contributing to individual differences in optimism. The paper reviews the literature on various measures of optimism, including the Life Orientation Test and the Attributional Style Questionnaire, and explores the impact of optimism on physical health, psychological well-being, and success in various domains of life. The paper also discusses genetic, personality, and environmental factors that contribute to individual differences in optimism, such as self-efficacy and locus of control. Finally, the paper highlights interventions that have been developed to increase optimism, including the Best Possible Self exercise, the Gratitude Visit, and cognitive-behavioral therapy. Understanding the factors that contribute to individual differences in optimism can inform interventions aimed at increasing optimism and improving health and well-being outcomes.

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Many studies have been carried out about the effectiveness of optimism as a psychological phenomenon, leading to various theoretical formulations of the same concept, conceptualized as “disposition”, “attributional style”, “cognitive bias”, or “shared illusion”. This overview is an attempt to explore the “optimism” concept and its relations with mental health, physical health, coping, quality of life and adaptation of purpose, health lifestyle and risk perception. Positive and negative expectations regarding the future are important for understanding the vulnerability to mental disorders, in particular mood and anxiety disorders, as well as to physical illness. A significant positive relation emerges between optimism and coping strategies focused on social support and emphasis on positive aspects of stressful situations. Through employment of specific coping strategies, optimism exerts an indirect influence also on the quality of life. There is evidence that optimistic people presen...

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How does optimism change over the lifespan and how do changes predict health and well-being? In a preregistered analysis of the Rochester Adult Longitudinal Study, we examined changes in and outcomes of optimism over 25 years (1989-2014) in 984 adults aged 16-70. Optimism increased over time similarly across participants. However, more optimistic participants at baseline reported engaging in healthier behaviors, better health, higher life satisfaction, and higher purpose in life 25 years later. Disaggregating health behaviors, we found that health-behavior-effects were specific to physical activity and abstaining from harmful substances/ food. Because participants increased in optimism at similar rates, more work is needed to examine whether changes in optimism predict outcomes, and what factors account for the homogenous change observed here.

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psychological factors on the functioning of basic physiological systems (see Chida & Steptoe, 2009). In this sense, the presence of positive psychological resources, such as optimism, has been linked to a more adaptive physiological response to stressful events, as well as to the activity of brain structures involved in the emotional response, such as the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and the amygdala (Taylor et al., 2008). DISPOSITIONAL OPTIMISM: THE ORIGIN OF THE CONSTRUCT AND ITS RELEVANCE TO HEALTH The origin of the construct The concept of dispositional optimism is based on theoretical models that attempt to explain human behavior based on the value of expectations; these models consider the aim of behavior to be to respond to desired objectives (Carver & Scheier, 2000). When one approaches the attainment of a desired goal or avoids an undesired goal, an assessment is made with regard to the level of confidence or doubt relating to the goal. In this assessment, the extent to ...

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Optimism is one of the most important concepts in positive psychology. The benefits of being an optimist seem to outweigh the disadvantages by far. Most of the research supports this idea, and this is also how the general public thinks. By being an optimist, we expect good things to happen in the future, and we believe we can achieve our goals. On the contrary, if we are a pessimist, we tend to believe that things will not go our way. Consequently, we will have less motivation to act. In this article, we take a closer look at optimism in positive psychology, which is the kind of psychology that approaches the human psyche not from the aspect of psychopathology, but human thriving. Optimism is not as simple as it sometimes may sound. In this article, we examine its strong impact on well-being, life satisfaction, and even perceived pain management. But since optimism is not without any disadvantages, we also examined how some types of optimism, such as being too optimistic, can be not that good. Likewise, we talked about how some types of pessimism such as defensive pessimism can be beneficial in some cases. The most important point we find is that, the context is crucial when it comes to what kind of psychological attitude we should take, in terms of optimism or pessimism.

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75 Optimism Examples

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

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optimism examples and definition, explained below

Optimism, derived from the Latin term ‘optimus’ meaning “best”, is the philosophy or tendency to expect the best possible outcome (Peterson, 2010).

Rooted in positive psychology , it is a mental orientation or mindset that influences how an individual perceives and interprets situations.

Researchers assert that it’s more than just having a smile on one’s face or seeing the glass as half full; it is an outlook on life characterized by positive and hopeful attitudes (Carver, Scheier & Segerstrom, 2010).

A person embodying optimism generally anticipates good results regardless of the circumstances (for instance, an optimistic student expects the best outcome even when faced with challenging exams). They exhibit resilience in the face of adversity, manifesting as a tendency to persist and work harder with a faith in positive results (Scheier & Carver, 2018).

Optimism Examples

Expecting good outcomes: This refers to an individual’s inclination to anticipate promising results, governed by a confident and proactive mindset . Such a mentality underscores optimism by proposing a continuous belief in positivity, despite potential obstacles.
Trusting people’s intentions: This means exercising solid faith in the sincerity of people’s actions and objectives. It embodies optimism by presuming that people generally aim to act harmoniously and honestly, fostering a feeling of connection and mutual respect.
Believing in oneself: This involves possessing strong confidence in one’s skills and capabilities. Rooted in optimism, it bolsters the assertion of one’s worth, driving the active pursuit to excel and revolutionize one’s life trajectory.
Embracing change positively: This implies welcoming unfamiliar circumstances with an open heart and eagerness, expressing flexibility. Demonstrating optimism, it’s the canvas where life implements its colour, bringing along new opportunities to grow and blossom.
Focusing on solutions: This encapsulates identifying and giving priority to answers or strategies rather than problems. An underlying pillar of optimism, it shifts the focus from passive lamenting to actionable steps towards resolution.
Finding opportunity in adversity: This represents a virtue consistent with optimism, where disruptive situations are approached as beneficial circumstances offering valuable life lessons. It sustains a hopeful mindset, shaping arduous moments into nurseries of growth and strength.
Visualizing success: This illustrates prediction and affirming of thriving outcomes even before they manifest, serving as a motivational tool. Such a mentality anchors one in optimism, fuelling courage to take on ambitious ventures.
Perceiving the glass as half-full: The notion of viewing situations from a ‘glass half-full’ perspective exemplifies an optimistic worldview. This viewpoint emphasizes gratitude by appreciating available resources, thereby boosting morale and encouraging positivity outward actions.
Encouraging others’ dreams: This comprises promoting and celebrating others’ goals, epitomizing an outward display of optimism. Such compassion and aliveness can often bolster a faith in humanity and proliferate optimism to surrounding acquaintances.
Pursuing continual self-improvement : This encompasses a tenacious journey towards personal impartation and intellectual refinement. As an embodiment of optimism, its engenders growth and expansive experiences, leading to heightened self-awareness and satisfaction.
Celebrating small victories: This represents valuing and commemorating even the seemingly minor accomplishments. Cultivating an optimistic outlook, it increases enthusiasm and motivation by appreciating about the process as much as the end result.
Maintaining a cheerful disposition: This endows maintaining an ever-pleasant demeanor, expressing emotion tied to feelings of general contentment or joy. As a projection of optimism, it lightens one’s attitude and influences others positively.
Cultivating gratitude: The act of fostering thankfulness towards life’s gifts whether big or small. Reverberating optimism, this practice reinforces positive observations of life experiences and bolsters overall wellbeing.
Welcoming new experiences: This implies the enthusiastic acceptance of novel events or challenges, promoting flexibility and adaptability. In demonstrating optimism, it highlights the thrill in expanding horizons and the power of continual learning.
Valuing personal growth: This exhibits a continued focus on self-evolution, embracing intellectual, emotional, and spiritual progress. A sign of optimism, it summons inner resources to better confront challenges, recognizing the inevitability and potential within progression.
Seeing beauty in simplicity: This portrays a premise central to optimism — appreciation and zest for simple, often overlooked aspects of life. Such a perspective echoes the thought that happiness can be discovered within simplicity, spreading sparks of positivity.
Embodying resilience in failure: This encompasses the embodiment of robust resilience in the aftermath of disappointments, using them as platforms to spring forward from. Viewing setbacks as conduits to triumph links to optimism, fostering growth and perseverance.
Accepting uncertainty with poise: This means admitting and handling ambiguity and fluctuations gracefully. In the light of optimism, this underlines courageous acceptance of life’s unpredictability and promotes adaptability.
Choosing happiness in hardship: This concerns electing to stay cheerful, sustaining high spirits and maintaining positivity amid trying times. It’s a shining beacon of optimism, advocating personal control over emotional states, notwithstanding external circumstances.
Exuding confidence in abilities: This necessitates holding an unwavering faith in one’s knowledge, talents, and skills, undeterred by failures. Rooted deeply in optimism, it motivates continued commitment and releases latent potentials.
Practicing patience and endurance: This includes providing substantial time for growth and processes without unseemly hurry, appreciating fluctuating stages of evolution. Organic to optimism, it allows for maturity and boosts reassurance in the attainment of eventual glory.
Cherishing every moment: That requires an understanding of life’s fleeting nature, encouraging absorption in living instants with undivided attention. As a direct trait of optimism, it intensifies holistic enjoyment and harvests bouts of joy in ordinary situations.
Upholding faith in humanity: This rests upon maintaining a positive perspective on mankind, anticipating mutual kindness, compassion, and decency. As an exceptional pillar of optimism, it steadies the belief in collective progress and morale in a supportive world.
Being excited about the future: This is characterized by exhibiting enthusiasm and displaying vibrant anticipation about time ahead. With roots in optimism, it sparks motivation towards continually aspiring and persevering.
Fostering a hopeful attitude: Maintaining such an attitude signifies carrying an optimistic mindset that envisages positivity throughout future occurrences. It influences personal and social realms of life, encouraging consistent anticipation of more pleasing and mirthful tomorrows.

50 Optimism Quotes (and Sayings about Optimism)

“Every cloud has a silver lining.”
“Tomorrow is another day.”
“This too shall pass.”
“When one door closes, another opens.”
“Opportunities often come from obstacles.”
“After a storm comes a calm.”
“There’s always light at the end of the tunnel.”
“Where there’s life, there’s hope.”
“Always look on the bright side.”
“The sun will come out tomorrow.”
“Better days are on their way.”
“Every sunset brings a new dawn.”
“Count your blessings, not your problems.”
“Every day may not be good, but there is something good in every day.”
“Challenges are just opportunities in disguise.”
“A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.”
“Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.”
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.”
“The only way is up.”
“The best is yet to come.”
“When it rains, look for rainbows.”
“Hope is the beacon which points to prosperity.”
“There’s a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.”
“Always believe something wonderful is about to happen.”
“Turn your face towards the sun and the shadows will fall behind you.”
“The future is as bright as your faith.”
“Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations.”
“Every moment is a fresh beginning.”
“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”
“Believe in miracles.”
“Aim for the moon. If you miss, you may hit a star.”
“Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow.”
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.”
“Rise above the storm and you will find the sunshine.”
“Only in the darkness can you see the stars.”
“Positive anything is better than negative nothing.”
“Do not wait for the storm to pass, learn to dance in the rain.”
“Always end the day with a positive thought.”
“Hope is a waking dream.”
“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement.”
“The greatest discovery of all time is that a person can change his future by merely changing his attitude.”
“There are far better things ahead than any we leave behind.”
“Never lose hope. Storms make people stronger and never last forever.”
“Start each day with a positive thought.”
“Wherever life plants you, bloom with grace.”
“Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future.”
“Believe you deserve it and the universe will serve it.”
“The pain you feel today will be the strength you feel tomorrow.”
“Every morning we are born again. What we do today matters most.”

Optimism has been linked to several positive health benefits. Researchers have associated optimism with reduced anxiety levels, lessened chances of developing chronic diseases, lower mortality rates, and improved overall health (Rasmussen, Scheier & Greenhouse, 2009).

A study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health (Kim, Kubzansky, Boehm, Levkoff, & Kawachi, 2014) revealed that positive psychological wellbeing, largely driven by optimism, was associated with a reduced risk of heart disease (e.g., participants who regularly portrayed a positive outlook were found to have an 11% lower risk of heart disease).

Optimism also reflects significantly on one’s everyday behavior. Those with an optimistic viewpoint tend to lead a healthier lifestyle, demonstrating regular exercise, a balanced diet, and adequate sleep (Friedman & Ryff, 2010).

Consider professional athletes, who, despite rigorous and physically demanding routines, maintain their fitness regimen with an optimistic frame of mind, often resulting in better performance records and a higher resilience towards stress (Beauchamp, Bray & Eys, 2017).

Overall, optimism goes beyond a mere positive attitude ; it is a steadfast belief that facilitates resilience, healthier lifestyles, and efficient problem-solving skills while promoting overall well-being.

Beauchamp, M. R., Bray, S. R., & Eys, M. (2017). Group dynamics in exercise and sport psychology. Routledge.

Carver C, Scheier M, Segerstrom S (2010). Optimism. Clinical psychology review.

Friedman, E. M., & Ryff, C. D. (2010). Living well with medical comorbidities: A biopsychosocial perspective. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 67(5), 535-544.

Kim, E. S., Kubzansky, L. D., Boehm, J. K., Levkoff, S. E., & Kawachi, I. (2014). Psychosocial factors and risk of hypertension: The Harvard School of Public Health Alumni Health Study. JAMA internal medicine, 174 (11), 1756-1764.

Peterson, C. (2010). Looking forward through the lifespan: Developmental psychology. Pearson Education Australia.

Rasmussen, H. N., Scheier, M. F., & Greenhouse, J. B. (2009). Optimism and physical health: a meta-analytic review. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 37 (3), 239-256.

Scheier, M., & Carver, C. (2018). Dispositional optimism and physical health: A long look back, a quick look forward. American Psychologist, 73 (9), 1082–1094.

Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 10 Reasons you’re Perpetually Single
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Pessimism vs. Optimism: How Mindset Impacts Wellbeing

How we explain events to ourselves (i.e., explanatory style) is a key factor in how we respond.

Pessimism, optimism, and realism represent three particularly salient and interconnected explanatory styles.

This article will describe these mindsets and their relationship to psychological health. Tips, books, quotes, and resources from PositivePsychology.com are also included. So please follow along as we inspect how our mindsets influence how we navigate our way through the world.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Positive Psychology Exercises for free . These science-based exercises explore fundamental aspects of positive psychology, including strengths, values, and self-compassion, and will give you the tools to enhance the wellbeing of your clients, students, or employees.

This Article Contains:

What is pessimism in psychology, pessimism vs optimism and realism, 3 examples of the different mindsets, the pessimism bias: its role in anxiety & depression, can pessimism be good, a note on changing your mindset: 12 tips, 3 books on the topic, positivepsychology.com’s resources, 9 popular quotes, a take-home message.

Pessimism is a type of explanatory style in which individuals “expect the disadvantageous outcome when facing events of unknown emotional impact” (Herwig et al., 2010, p. 789).

Humans consistently search for meaning to explain life events. When a person views situations from a pessimistic mindset, this is considered a negative bias (Dember, Martin, Hummer, Howe, & Melton, 1989).

Individuals who are pessimistic will often interpret negative events as internal, global, and stable; whereas positive events are often viewed as external, specific, and unstable (Gillham, Shatte, Reivich, & Seligman, 2001). These relationships are presented in Figure 1 below.

Explanatory style affects many aspects of life. For example, a person with a negative bias is less likely to feel resilient when dealing with stressors because they will feel a lack of personal control.

Viewing undesirable events as due to stable, internal causes has a negative impact on self-esteem (Gillham et al., 2001). In contrast, an optimistic disposition is associated with reduced depression and physical symptoms (Gillham et al., 2001).

Importantly, however, an association between pessimism and negative outcomes is not always straightforward, as it is possible to feel simultaneously pessimistic and optimistic about a situation. Moreover, defensive pessimism may actually be beneficial in some situations.

Figure 1: Relationship between explanatory style, event, and perception

As a notable example, Chipperfield et al. (2019) addressed the role of explanatory styles in an 18-year longitudinal study assessing health expectations and health outcomes among elderly Canadians.

The researchers found that having realistically pessimistic (versus unrealistically optimistic) health expectations was related to both reduced depressive symptoms and risk of death. Similarly, unrealistic optimism (versus realistic optimism) when health is deteriorating was associated with a 313% higher death rate.

Clearly, optimism versus pessimism is not black and white. There is room for realism in this equation; realistic optimism serves a protective function by allowing a person to remain optimistic while accepting the reality of difficult situations.

A pessimist sees a dark tunnel. An optimist sees light at the end of the tunnel. A realist sees a freight train. A train driver sees three idiots standing on the tracks.

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The following vignettes highlight how mindsets affect how a person responds to a challenging situation.

Stephanie is an active 32-year-old woman who has been feeling fatigued lately, with a great deal of muscle pain and stiffness. She has also noticed that she’s been clumsy, forgetting things, and that one of her eyes is blurry.

When she goes to a specialist, Stephanie is diagnosed with recurring multiple sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune inflammatory disease that causes a wide range of neurological symptoms such as muscle weakness, vision problems, muscle numbness, and difficulty moving. Stephanie’s mindset will play a key role in how she manages her illness as noted below.

Unrealistically optimistic Stephanie

If Stephanie is unrealistically optimistic, she is likely to view her condition as manageable, stable, and unlikely to worsen. She will not fault herself for her condition and will believe it to be a fluke, since things usually go her way.

Although upset by her diagnosis, she firmly believes that she has the least serious type of MS. She is confident that she will conquer her disease and get on with her life just as before .

Stephanie immediately begins an anti-inflammatory diet, attends physical therapy, and takes her medicine regularly. Stephanie feels better, but then fails to maintain her lifestyle adjustments because she thinks she’s fine now. As a result, she has a bad flare-up, ends up in the ER, and feels terribly disappointed.

Unrealistically pessimistic Stephanie

If Stephanie is an unrealistic pessimist, she is likely to view life challenges as stable, with this diagnosis serving as no exception. She might believe that the illness is a result of her lifestyle and that she could have prevented it somehow. She believes MS will ruin her life in many areas, such as work and relationships.

Stephanie takes her medicines, but doesn’t engage in physical therapy or change her lifestyle because she feels there’s no point, given that she has a disease she can’t control. Because she doesn’t make necessary health changes, Stephanie’s MS gets much worse, and it’s not long before she finds herself depressed and unemployed.

Realistically optimistic Stephanie

If Stephanie is realistically optimistic, she will receive her MS diagnosis with a healthy balance of positivism and acceptance. She will inform herself about the disease and have no illusions about her prognosis. She will take the necessary steps to reduce the impact of the disease and to enable her to maintain a meaningful, healthy lifestyle. She will change her diet and follow all of her doctor’s orders.

Because Stephanie is fully aware of the potential progression of MS, she won’t be knocked down if she has a flare-up. She will face her disease with resilience and will continue to partake in many activities that bring her joy.

Anticipation is necessary for survival, as it enables us to prepare for difficult situations. However, when we make sense of the world through a pessimistic lens, it leaves us vulnerable to anxiety and sadness.

If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present.

Pessimism & anxiety

Let’s first consider anxiety, which generally involves worry, fear, and rumination about the future (i.e., anticipatory anxiety). A highly anxious person often has a stream of what-if’s running through their mind, making it difficult to enjoy the moment.

If a person is pessimistic, they are more inclined to see the worst-case scenario, which only feeds anxiety. Additionally, a person who is chronically anxious is more likely to gauge ambiguous future events as unrealistically negative (Hartley & Phelps, 2012).

The link between cognitive bias and anxiety has been supported by the literature. For example, optimism has been associated with reduced anxiety and depression among cancer patients (Zenger, Brix, Borowski, Stolzenburg, & Hinz, 2010) and with lower anxiety among college students in both China (Yu, Chen, Liu, Yu, & Zhao, 2015) and India (Singh & Jha, 2013).

Similarly, in a large-scale longitudinal study including Australian adolescents, those who were the most optimistic were almost half as likely to be at risk for depressive symptoms (Patton et al., 2011).

Finally, in their meta-analysis, Alarcon, Bowling, and Khazon (2013) found that optimism was related to many aspects of positive wellbeing, including happiness and life satisfaction. Unsurprisingly, optimism also was negatively correlated with anxiety and depression.

Pessimism & depression

An explanatory style in which negative outcomes are anticipated also represents an integral ingredient of major depression (Herwig et al., 2010). Individuals with depression often feel helpless and don’t believe they have the coping resources to deal with challenges. They may be particularly hard on themselves, engaging in what Aaron Beck (1967, p. 234) has termed “systematic bias against the self.”

A person who is depressed may view themselves in a variety of negative ways that are untrue or grossly amplified (e.g., “I’m no good,” “I’ll never amount to anything,” “I’m worthless”). This pessimistic mindset increases depressive thinking, which serves to exacerbate pessimism. It’s a vicious cycle.

Empirical research supports a positive relationship between pessimistic bias and depressive symptoms (Strunk, Lopez, & DeRubeis, 2006). Significant associations between optimism and increased resilience and reduced depression among adolescents have also been reported (Niu, Fan, Zhou, Tian, & Lian, 2015).

Similarly, dispositional optimism among college students has been found to predict future depression (Vickers & Vogeltanz, 2000). Among males middle-aged and older, optimism has also been linked to better mental health and vitality (Achat, Kawachi, Spiro, DeMolles, & Sparrow, 2000).

Why great thinkers balance optimism and pessimism – Big Think

Like most everything in life, moderation is a key factor when it comes to explanatory style. For example, some people see the world through rose-colored glasses.

In doing so, they fail to notice, much less cope, with challenges. This repressive way of looking at things has drawbacks; just because you refuse to see a problem doesn’t mean it’s not there.

As with the prior example, ‘unrealistically optimistic Stephanie’ fails to comprehend the full nature of her illness, which leads to further health problems and enormous disappointment. Instead, allowing oneself to process the potential ramifications of a situation is a form of mental preparedness that helps to soften the fall during hard times.

The downside of a ‘ Pollyanna ’ approach is indeed supported by the literature. For example, Chipperfield et al. (2019) found that overly optimistic forecasting was related to reduced psychological wellbeing and a greater risk of death.

Similarly, Forgeard and Seligman’s (2012) review suggests that ‘unmitigated and unrealistic optimism’ may lead to a range of undesirable outcomes. Of course, it’s not healthy to always expect the worst-case scenario, but by nurturing realistic optimism, we can search for “positive experiences while acknowledging what we do not know and accepting what we cannot know” (Schneider, 2001, p. 253).

So, go ahead and practice optimism, but make sure it is balanced with a good dose of flexibility and realism.

Here are 12 ways to become more realistically optimistic:

Change your expectations How much time and energy is wasted by feeling bad about things and people over which we have no control? Maya Angelou understood this concept when she said: “ When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time .” Imagine how much better you would feel if you simply modified your expectations to be consistent with that which you cannot change.
Enjoy the small things If you postpone happiness for big events in life, you are limiting your happiness to very few experiences. Consider the smaller, more frequent aspects of life that make you happy and you will reap the benefits.
Seek beauty Beauty is subjective. Find what is beautiful to you, such as a sunset or a garden, and savor it.
Visualize positivity Whether you use a vision board or simply your imagination, by visualizing what you desire, it feels more attainable.
Be realistic There is a happy medium between pessimism and radical optimism. Be realistic about yourself and the world around you, and it will better prepare you for what tomorrow brings.
Practice gratitude Gratitude is the antithesis of negativity. Consider and appreciate the great things in your life.
Start the day on a positive note A day goes more smoothly if it begins with a positive outlook. Remember to start the day with hope and positivity.
Be a positive role model When you behave like the optimistic person you would like your children, friends, or coworkers to emulate, you are likely to become that person.
Do something creative Creative flow is a positive and enjoyable experience. Find a creative pursuit you enjoy and your mindset will shift accordingly.
Don’t be too hard on yourself Self-love is a key aspect of a positive attitude. If you consistently berate yourself, seek ways to create more kind and loving self-talk.
Practice mindful meditation This approach enables a person to calm their ‘monkey mind’ and allow unwanted thoughts to float on by. It is an excellent way to minimize the impact of negative thoughts on emotional wellbeing.
Find your ikigai ‘ Ikigai ’ refers to a reason to live. It is a mindset and lifestyle that involves kindness, community, acceptance, beauty, healthy behaviors, and living in the moment. If you find your ikigai, you are far more likely to experience joy, excellent health, and a zest for life.

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There is plenty of reading material that promotes a healthy explanatory style; here are three examples:

1. Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff… And It’s All Small Stuff – Richard Carlson

This highly successful book provides several simple ways to avoid overblowing difficult situations. By maintaining perspective, readers are better able to minimize anxiety.

Among the book’s many insights, readers are advised to trust their intuitions, focus on one thing at a time, and reframe challenges as teaching opportunities.

Find the book on Amazon .

2. Learned Optimism – Martin Seligman

Authored by a renowned expert in positive psychology, this informative book is the product of over 20 years of research. It contains many simple methods for embracing a constructive explanatory style and learned optimism .

With tips that help to enhance happiness and wellbeing, this book applies to individuals of all ages.

3. A Year of Positive Thinking: Daily Inspiration, Wisdom, and Courage – Cyndie Spiegel

The goal of this book is to help readers develop a more positive mindset by following daily prompts for an entire year.

It contains a full year of tips, exercises, mantras, and other techniques aimed at promoting positive life changes.

Grounded in psychological research, this inspirational guide provides actionable ways to enhance self-respect, courage, and positivity.

You’ll find many materials and further reading throughout our site that can help you or your clients develop a healthy, positive outlook.

Here are just a few links to get you started.

11 Optimism Tools, Examples, and Exercises to Help Improve Your Outlook

This comprehensive article includes information about optimism theory, along with ways to encourage optimism in therapy and among children. It also contains several optimism tests and questionnaires, worksheets, activities, and exercises.

Finding Silver Linings

This exercise helps individuals find the bright side of difficult situations. It contains the following four steps:

Shift into a positive mindset by listing five things that are meaningful, enjoyable, or worthwhile.
Identify a recent difficulty by describing a recent event that resulted in distress or frustration.
Identify costs by writing down the costs associated with the event noted above.
Find silver linings by listing at least three positive outcomes of the above difficulty.

Overall, by engaging in this exercise for two weeks, readers are more equipped to approach challenges with a positive perspective that promotes resilience.

You can access a pre-prepared version of this exercise, complete with facilitation instructions, with a subscription to the Positive Psychology Toolkit© .

The Yes-Brain Versus the No-Brain

This tool is aimed at helping individuals experience both a ‘yes’ mindset and a ‘no’ mindset in order to learn the benefits of the former. It includes the following four steps:

Saying ‘No.’ Individuals first engage in a mindfulness exercise in which they become aware of the present moment and what happens within their bodies. The practitioner then says ‘No’ eight times in a row using a stern, low, hard voice. As this is happening, the client is asked to notice what’s happening in their body.
Saying ‘Yes.’ Individuals now consider how their bodies respond when the practitioner repeats the word ‘Yes’ eight times in a row, using a warm, encouraging, gentle voice.
Reflection. Individuals reflect on the prior steps by following prompts, such as “Did you feel differently when hearing ‘No’ and when hearing ‘Yes?’”
Discussion. The practitioner now describes the client’s reactions in terms of a fight-or-flight response and how it relates to the ‘Yes’ versus ‘No’ brain. Individuals also learn that they can train their brain to become more emotionally stable, resilient, insightful, and empathetic.

By participating in this exercise, individuals are in a better position to foster a more positive and healthy mindset.

Again, you can access a done-for-you template for this exercise, and over 400 more exercises, with a subscription to the Positive Psychology Toolkit© .

17 Positive Psychology Exercises

If you’re looking for more science-based ways to help others enhance their wellbeing, this signature collection contains 17 validated positive psychology tools for practitioners. Use them to help others flourish and thrive.

Here are nine examples:

Be optimistic like a flower. A flower never loses her optimism and will bloom with all of her beauty despite tremendous adversity.

Debasish Mridha

Optimism is the foundation of courage.

Nicholas M. Butler

Optimism is the madness of insisting that all is well when we are miserable.

The optimism of a healthy mind is indefatigable.

Margery Allingham

A pessimist is a man who thinks everybody is as nasty as himself, and hates them for it.

George Bernard Shaw

If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.

Only those who attempt the absurd can achieve the impossible.

Albert Einstein

I’m a pessimist because of intelligence, but an optimist because of will.

Antonio Gramsci

Pessimists try to convince you the world sucks, optimists already know it does and smile anyway.

Jonathan Harnisch

17 Top-Rated Positive Psychology Exercises for Practitioners

Expand your arsenal and impact with these 17 Positive Psychology Exercises [PDF] , scientifically designed to promote human flourishing, meaning, and wellbeing.

Created by Experts. 100% Science-based.

There are many ways to adjust our mindsets to promote a healthy, positive approach to problems.

In fact, a combination of realism and optimism enables us to maintain positivity while bracing ourselves for disappointment.

Fortunately, our explanatory styles can be changed.

There is no reason to hide behind rose-colored glasses; by embracing both reality and optimism, we are able to face life’s inevitable challenges with courage and perseverance.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Positive Psychology Exercises for free .

Achat, H., Kawachi, I., Spiro, A., DeMolles, D., & Sparrow, D. (2000). Optimism and depression as predictors of physical and mental health functioning: The normative aging study. Annals of Behavioral Medicine , 22 , 127–130.
Alarcon, G., Bowling, N., & Khazon, S. (2013). Great expectations: A meta-analytic examination of optimism and hope. Personality & Individual Differences , 54 , 821–827.
Beck, A. (1967). Depression: Clinical, experimental and theoretical aspects . Harper & Row.
Carlson, R. (1997). Don’t sweat the small stuff… And it’s all small stuff. Hyperion.
Chipperfield, J., Hamm, J., Perry, R., Parker, P., Ruthig, J., & Lang, F. (2019). A healthy dose of realism: The role of optimistic and pessimistic expectations when facing a downward spiral in health. Social Science & Medicine , 232 , 444–452.
Dember, W., Martin, S., Hummer, M., Howe, S., & Melton, R. (1989). The measurement of optimism and pessimism. Current Psychology , 8 , 102–119.
Forgeard, M., & Seligman, M. (2012). Seeing the glass half full: A review of the causes and consequences of optimism. Pratiques Psychologiques , 18 , 107–120.
Gillham, J., Shatte, A., Reivich, K., & Seligman, M. (2001). Optimism, pessimism, and explanatory style. In E. C. Chang (Ed.). Optimism and pessimism: Implications for theory, research, and practice (pp. 53–75). American Psychological Association.
Hartley, C., & Phelps, E. (2012). Anxiety and decision-making. Biological Psychiatry , 72 , 113–118.
Herwig, U., Brühl, A., Kaffenberger, T., Baumgartner, T., Boeker, H., & Jäncke, L. (2010). Neural correlates of ‘pessimistic’ attitude in depression. Psychological Medicine , 40 , 789–800.
Niu, G., Fan, C., Zhou, Z., Tian, Y., & Lian, S. (2015). The effect of adolescents’ optimism on depression: The mediating role of resilience. Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology , 23 , 709–711.
Patton, G., Tollit, M., Romaniuk, H., Spence, S., Sheffield, J., & Sawyer, M. (2011). A prospective study of the effects of optimism on adolescent health risks. Pediatrics , 127 , 308–316.
Scheier, M., Carver, C., & Bridges, M. (1994). Distinguishing optimism from neuroticism (and trait anxiety, self-mastery, and self-esteem): A reevaluation of the life orientation test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 67 , 1063–1078.
Schneider, S. (2001). In search of realistic optimism: Meaning, knowledge, and warm fuzziness. American Psychologist , 56 , 250–263.
Seligman, M. (2006). Learned optimism: How to change your mind and your life. Vintage.
Sharot, T. (2011). The optimism bias. Current Biology , 21 , R941–R945.
Singh, I., & Jha, A. (2013). Anxiety, optimism and academic achievement among students of private medical and engineering colleges: A comparative study. Journal of Educational & Developmental Psychology , 3 , 222–233.
Spiegel, C. (2018). A year of positive thinking: Daily inspiration, wisdom, and courage. Althea Press.
Strunk, D., Lopez, H., & DeRubeis, R. (2006). Depressive symptoms are associated with unrealistic negative predictions of future life events. Behaviour Research & Therapy , 44 , 861–882.
Vickers, K., & Vogeltanz, N. (2000). Dispositional optimism as a predictor of depressive symptoms over time. Personality & Individual Differences , 28 , 259–272.
Yu, X., Chen, J., Liu, J., Yu, X., & Zhao, K. (2015). Dispositional optimism as a mediator of the effect of rumination on anxiety. Social Behavior & Personality , 43 , 1233–1242.
Zenger, M., Brix, C., Borowski, J., Stolzenburg, J., & Hinz, A. (2010). The impact of optimism on anxiety, depression and quality of life in urogenital cancer patients. Psycho-Oncology , 19 , 879–886.

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Defining The Meaning of Optimism

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Optimism Essay

So why be optimistic? There are plenty of reasons! Studies have shown that optimism can lead to better physical health, better mental health, increased resilience in the face of adversity, and even longer lifespans.

Optimism is a very important quality because it helps us stay motivated even when things are not going our way. It makes us believe that everything will eventually work out, and that gives us the strength to keep going.

Pessimism, on the other hand, means focusing on the negative aspects of life. Pessimists tend to see the glass half empty, and they are always expecting the worst to happen. This attitude can obviously lead to a lot of disappointment and unhappiness.

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27 Pessimism, Optimism, and Meaning in Life

David Benatar is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. His books include Better Never to Have Been (Oxford University Press, 2006), The Second Sexism (Wiley-Blackwell, 2012), and The Human Predicament (Oxford University Press, 2017).

Published: 20 April 2022
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This chapter examines pessimistic and optimistic views about life’s meaning. To this end, it engages three broad questions. First, what is one asking when one asks whether life has meaning? Different possible questions are differentiated, and the relevant ones highlighted. Second, what constitutes optimism or pessimism about life’s meaning? Optimists and pessimists can disagree about whether life has a specified kind of meaning, or they can disagree about whether the presence or absence of such meaning is good or bad. Competing understandings of optimism and pessimism are discussed. Third, how optimistic or pessimistic should one be about life’s meaning? It is argued that while one should be optimistic that life has some meaning, one should be pessimistic about how much meaning life has. It would be better if individuals’ lives were much more meaningful than they actually are.

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Meaning of optimism in English

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In spite of the scale of the famine , the relief workers struggled on with dauntless optimism and commitment .
Her optimism seemed to infect all those around her.
The prevailing mood is one of optimism.
The prime minister's speech was intended to purvey a message of optimism.
International support has given rise to a new optimism in the company .
appealingly
beyond someone's expectations
bright spot
hopefulness
it's an ill wind (that blows nobody any good) idiom
over-optimistically
pin your hopes on something/someone idiom
please God idiom

optimism | American Dictionary

optimistically

optimism | Business English

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kick something into the long grass

to delay dealing with something, especially because you want people to forget about it

Like a bull in a china shop: talking about people who are clumsy

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Knowledge Base
Research bias
What Is Optimism Bias? | Definition & Examples

What Is Optimism Bias? | Definition & Examples

Published on January 27, 2023 by Kassiani Nikolopoulou . Revised on October 5, 2023.

Optimism bias is the tendency to overestimate the likelihood of positive events and underestimate the likelihood of negative events. Optimism bias causes most people to expect that things will work out well, even if rationality suggests that problems are inevitable in life.

Although optimism bias can motivate us to overcome obstacles, it can also cause us to ignore potential risks, resulting in poor decision-making.

What is optimism bias, why does optimism bias occur, why does optimism bias matter, optimism bias examples, how to avoid optimism bias, other types of research bias, frequently asked questions about optimism bias.

Optimism bias (or unrealistic optimism ) is a type of unconscious cognitive bias . It refers to an unrealistically favorable attitude that people have towards themselves and people that are close to them. Positive illusions help us maintain self-esteem and avoid discomfort, at least in the short term.

Optimism bias causes people to believe that they are less likely to experience negative events than other people. For example, people expect that their careers, marriages, or health will be better than those of others, and that the financial troubles, divorces, or illnesses that happen to other people will not happen to them.

This irrational belief seems to be deeply ingrained in humans. Studies suggest that it is observed in about 80% of the population (but, notably, not among people with depression).

Maintaining a positive outlook gives us courage and motivates us to keep going, despite any adverse situations we face. Optimism bias allows us to try new or difficult things because we feel confident that they will go well.

Throughout human evolution this characteristic served us well and was passed down from one generation to the next. In other words, because optimism bias proved beneficial to humans, we are inclined to mispredict the future.

There are two key assumptions at the root of optimism bias:

That we exercise some level of control over the world around us, including what will happen to us in the future.
That we, as individuals, possess more positive traits than the average person.

Several factors can help explain optimism bias:

We have the tendency to selectively update our beliefs and expectations about the future. We are more likely to update our beliefs based on positive information rather than negative information. This, in turn, perpetuates optimism bias.
Optimism is beneficial to our mental and physical health. Expecting positive outcomes reduces stress and anxiety. Optimistic patients are more likely to believe that they will recover, leading them to adopt behaviours that increase their chances (e.g., exercise, healthy diet).

Overall, optimism bias enables us to cope with our environment and worry less about uncertainty. Because of this, it can often lead to better results than unbiased or rational beliefs.

Because a majority of people are susceptible to optimism bias, it’s important to be aware of its influence on our perception and judgment.

Optimism bias can be a problem when it prevents us from accurately anticipating risk. In project management, for instance, optimism bias can cause us to underestimate the budget and time needed, a common error called the planning fallacy . Failure to assess potential hazards can also mean failing to take out sufficient insurance or to get regular medical check-ups. It can even cause us to adopt harmful habits, such as smoking.

On the other hand, optimism is also linked to achievement in several domains, such as sports, business, and education. When we are optimistic, we are more motivated to try harder, which in turn can influence the outcome. Sometimes, expecting positive things can become a self-fulfilling prophecy .

Optimism bias can also influence collective behaviour and produce large-scale effects.

Optimism bias can have negative consequences, particularly when serious risks are disregarded.

This also seems to extend to feeling that they are safer than others living elsewhere or future generations. This leads them to believe that climate change won’t personally affect them.

Although optimism bias is part of human nature (and can’t be entirely avoided), there are ways to keep it in check:

Perform a project “premortem.” A premortem analysis starts with the hypothesis that your project has failed. With that in mind, you try to come up with possible reasons why. This allows you to spot the weaknesses in your project plan and prepare for the future.
Use the availability heuristic . Actively attempt to retrieve negative past experiences or times things didn’t go as planned. Here, the purpose is not to demotivate yourself, but to learn from the past so as to make sensible choices in the future.
Take an outsider’s approach. Take an objective approach when making plans. For example, when you estimate how long you will need to write a paper, seek out information about the average time it takes most people and adjust your initial assumptions accordingly.

Cognitive bias

Confirmation bias
Baader–Meinhof phenomenon
Availability heuristic
Halo effect
Framing effect
Affect heuristic
Representativeness heuristic
Anchoring heuristic
Primacy bias
Optimism bias

Selection bias

Sampling bias
Ascertainment bias
Attrition bias
Self-selection bias
Survivorship bias
Nonresponse bias
Undercoverage bias
Hawthorne effect
Observer bias
Omitted variable bias
Publication bias
Pygmalion effect
Recall bias
Social desirability bias
Placebo effect
Actor-observer bias
Ceiling effect
Ecological fallacy
Affinity bias

The opposite of optimism bias is pessimism bias. Optimism bias occurs when we overestimate our chances of experiencing positive events in our lives, while pessimism bias occurs when we overestimate our chance of experiencing negative events.

For example, pessimism bias could cause someone to think they are going to fail an exam, even though they are well prepared and usually get good grades.

A positive illusion is a form of self-deception under which people have inflated, favorable attitudes about themselves or others close to them.

The most common positive illusions involve:

Exaggerating one’s positive traits
Overestimating one’s degree of control in life
Harboring overly optimistic beliefs about future events (also called optimism bias ).

The planning fallacy refers to people’s tendency to underestimate the resources needed to complete a future task, despite knowing that previous tasks have also taken longer than planned.

For example, people generally tend to underestimate the cost and time needed for construction projects. The planning fallacy occurs due to people’s tendency to overestimate the chances that positive events, such as a shortened timeline, will happen to them. This phenomenon is called optimism bias .

Positivity bias occurs when a person judges individual members of a group positively, even when they have negative impressions or judgments of the group as a whole. Positivity bias is closely related to optimism bias , or the e xpectation that things will work out well, even if rationality suggests that problems are inevitable in life.

Sources in this article

We strongly encourage students to use sources in their work. You can cite our article (APA Style) or take a deep dive into the articles below.

Nikolopoulou, K. (2023, October 05). What Is Optimism Bias? | Definition & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved September 3, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/research-bias/optimism-bias/

Jefferson, A., Bortolotti, L., & Kuzmanovic, B. (2017). What is unrealistic optimism? Consciousness and Cognition , 50 , 3–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2016.10.005

Sharot, T. (2011). The optimism bias. Current Biology , 21 (23), R941–R945. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2011.10.030

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Guest Essay

So They Can Do Better, Let High Schoolers Do Less

A young woman wearing a colorful backpack waits along the curb of a street.

By Tim Donahue

Mr. Donahue teaches high school English at Greenwich Country Day School in Connecticut.

To earn the distinction of valedictorian at Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton, Calif., a student must maintain a straight-A average and take at least 32 honors-level, semester-long classes. One weak “Gatsby” essay during these four years, one math test taken after an ankle sprain, one poorly conjugated verb can put a leak in the boat. And yet this past May, 39 of the 606 graduating seniors maintained the buoyancy to become valedictorians.

This is hardly unusual. In 2022, Edison High in Fresno, Calif., had 115 valedictorians in the class of 558. In 2017, Central Magnet School in Murfreesboro, Tenn., had 48 out of 193. And in 2019, Washington Liberty High in Arlington, Va., had 213 earning the top honor in their class of 595.

In the way some teachers sniff out A.I.-generated essays, some colleges engage in “countermeasures” to decode the truth behind the ever-increasing numbers of ever-improving transcripts they read. But the bigger truth is that many colleges just throw up their hands and don’t factor in weighted G.P.A.s (scaled according to the difficulty of the class) at all. So the same students who are now sweating on the too-hot turf during early-season practices are going to sweat through lots and lots of classes whose contents they can’t possibly retain in order to simply tread water.

We have pushed high school students into maximizing every part of their days and nights. Those who take the bait are remarkably compliant, diluting themselves between their internships and Canva presentations. We condition students to do a so-so job and then move on to the next thing. We need to let them slow down. Critical cognition, by definition, takes time.

The underbelly of grade inflation is that now the ambitious student must clear more time in their schedule for the stuff that really makes a difference. Harvard’s dean of undergraduate education, Amanda Claybaugh, said: “Students feel the need to distinguish themselves outside the classroom because they are essentially indistinguishable inside the classroom. Extracurriculars, which should be stress-relieving, become stress-producing.”

“When we are overloaded with mental activity,” wrote Leidy Klotz, the author of “Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less,” “we are less likely to think about taking things off of our plates. So, this overload that students get into creates a feedback loop that is hard to get out of. The more overloaded they are, the more likely they are to rely on heuristic thinking, and that heuristic thinking is going to tell them to add things first.”

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