Optimism

The half a glass of water helps illustrates of two different mental attitudes, optimism (half full) and pessimism (half empty)

Optimism is the practice of looking on the bright side of things, much as the little heroine of Pollyanna was trained by her father, a missionary, to make a game of finding something to be glad about in all circumstances.

The term is often used as meaning someone who looks for the positive side of a situation and anticipates the most positive outcome of a venture.

An optimist is one who looks at a glass of water that is half-full and half-empty, and focuses on how it is half-full. A pessimist focuses on how it is half-empty.

French author Voltaire mocked the concept in his novel Candide (1759), ridiculing Leibniz's notion that this is the best of all possible worlds.

An old Russian joke says a pessimist believes that things cannot possibly get worse while an optimist is confident that they surely can.

Christian theology and optimism

See also: Gottfried Leibniz and Theodicy

Christian theologians commonly declare that the world was the best of all possible worlds, as it was created by God. Therefore, even what appears to many as bad is actually part of God's perfect plan. For example, adversity improves Christian character.

Gottfried Leibniz

Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (1646-1716) was a German, Christian philosopher who was born into a pious Lutheran family close to the end of the Thirty Years’ War, which had laid Germany in ruins.

Encyclopedia Britannica's article Best of all possible worlds states:

“

Best of all possible worlds, in the philosophy of the early modern philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716), the thesis that the existing world is the best world that God could have created. Leibniz’s argument for the doctrine of the best of all possible worlds, now commonly called Leibnizian optimism, is presented in its fullest form in his work Théodicée (1710; Theodicy), which was devoted to defending the justness of God.. In rough outline, the argument proceeds as follows: 1. God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent; 2. God created the existing world; 3. God could have created a different world or none at all (i.e., there are other possible worlds); 4. Because God is omnipotent and omniscient, he knew which possible world was the best and was able to create it, and, because he is omnibenevolent, he chose to create that world; 5. Therefore, the existing world, the one that God created, is the best of all possible worlds.

”

Learned optimism

In the field of psychology: "Learned optimism involves developing the ability to view the world from a positive point of view. It is often contrasted with learned helplessness." Learned optimism is a term coined by psychologist Martin Seligman in his book Learned Optimism which conveys the notion that optimism and joy can be cultivated.

Article:

• Using Learned Optimism in Your Life
• Learned optimism can change your life. Here's how
• Learned Optimism: Is Martin Seligman’s Glass Half Full? by Catherine Moore, Psychologist and MBA

Videos:

• Videos on learned optimism and learned helplessness, Video playlist

The link between optimism and happiness/hope. The link between happiness and success

The smiley, often called a Smiley face, is a symbol often used to express happiness.

See also: Happiness

Research indicates that there is a link between optimism and happiness/hope. In addition, research also indicates that happiness is more apt to lead to success in one's endeavors.

Optimistic salespeople have higher sales and company retention rates

See also: Sales

The Hoffeld Group indicates:

"University of Pennsylvania professor Martin Seligman conducted some interesting research, which was published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, on how optimism and pessimism impacts the performance of sales people.

Seligman gave sales people a psychological assessment that measured their level of optimism. Then he evaluated those sales people’s performance over a two year period. The findings were that those sales people who scored high on optimism sold 37% more than their more pessimistic counterparts. What’s more, the sales people who tested in the top tier in optimism had sales production that was 88% higher than those who had scored high in pessimism.

That’s not all. Seligman’s research also revealed that those sales people who had pessimistic mindsets were also 300% more likely to quit the profession of selling than those who were optimistic."

Optimism bias

See also: Optimism bias and Dunning-Kruger effect

Tali Sharot in the journal Current Biology, wrote about optimism bias:

“

The optimism bias is defined as the difference between a person's expectation and the outcome that follows. If expectations are better than reality, the bias is optimistic; if reality is better than expected, the bias is pessimistic. The extent of the optimism bias is thus measured empirically by recording an individual's expectations before an event unfolds and contrasting those with the outcomes that transpire. This methodology reveals, for instance, that students expect to receive higher starting salaries and more job offers than they end up getting. People tend to underestimate how long a project will take to complete and how much it will cost. Most of us predict deriving greater pleasure from a vacation than we subsequently do, and we anticipate encountering more positive events in an upcoming month (such as receiving a gift or enjoying a movie) than we end up experiencing (Figure 1A). Across many different methods and domains, studies consistently report that a large majority of the population (about 80% according to most estimates) display an optimism bias. Optimistic errors seem to be an integral part of human nature, observed across gender, race, nationality and age.

”

Article:

• Why do we overestimate the probability of success?, Decision Lab

Videos:

• Optimism bias, Video playlist

Quote:

“Never underestimate how wrong you can be. Even the most careful planning can be overtaken by external events and circumstances.” - Dan Peña, American businessman and business coach

Journal articles

• Optimism, Clinical Psychology Review. Volume 30, Issue 7, November 2010, Pages 879-889
• Optimism and Its Impact on Mental and Physical Well-Being, Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health, 2010; 6: 25–29. Published online 2010 May 14. doi: 10.2174/1745017901006010025

See also

• Attitude

• Achievement orientation

External links

• What Is Optimism?
• How to Train Your Brain to Be More Optimistic
• Six Approaches to Becoming More Optimistic Today, Utah State University
• All About Optimism: Definition, Health Effects, and How to Boost Your Outlook
• 23 Strategies To Become More Optimistic
• How To Become An Optimist: 19 Tips To Stay Positive
• How to Be More Optimistic

Videos:

• Becoming more optimistic, Video playlist