The study also found that pessimism and is more often associated with neuroticism and negative emotions than and optimism. This study concluded that not being pessimistic was more important than being optimistic.
Sweeney & Sheppard (2010) found that optimism could have its disadvantages when someone must receive bad news. Pessimism allows the person to "brace" themselves for bad news and to develop coping skills to help deal with the event. Optimists may have a disadvantage when it comes to real life negative situations. These authors suggest that pessimism is more of a coping mechanism and that optimism can leave a person without a planned coping strategy. The study aked the question of whether optimism is always best when preparing for the unexpected events, or expectations of negative events in life.
Pessimism puts people in the state of readiness, which Sweeney & Sheppard associate with preparedness. It was found that many things could change a person's outlook on life. For instance, the authors found that as peopled found new information that they may change their outlook on life. They can also change their outlook based on their current mood. The authors found that an anxious mood often changes that a person's outlook to one of pessimism. They can also change their outlook as a conscious preparation to prepare for a potential disappointment. Sweeney & Sheppard found that being less optimistic could make people feel better when the outcomes exceed their negative expectations. This can make them experience of greater happiness even when the outcome is less than ideal.
These two studies took a different approach from previous studies on optimism and pessimism. It was found that optimism does not necessarily lead to a positive health effects. Optimists can still get depressed, experience anxiety and have many of the other negative effects and that result from a stressful life situation. The most important finding of the study by Robinson-Whelen, Kim, MacCullum and associates is...
Pessimism is almost always preferred to optimism and in a situation because pessimism can lead to many negative effects.
However, as Sweeney and Shepherd pointed out, that is not say that pessimism does not have its place. Pessimism appears to be a protective reaction that resembles a coping mechanism more than a personality trait. This coping strategy can help people prepare for a negative event. It was found that it can help them recover more quickly from a traumatic event and that optimists may be left without a coping as mechanism in these situations. Optimists may experience more, or higher levels of disappointment when the outcome is not what they expected.
The conclusions that can be drawn from these two studies is that in general, optimism is preferred over pessimism because pessimism is more likely to cause negative effects. However, that is not say that pessimism does not have its usefulness in protecting us from emotional harm. The most reasonable approach to optimism vs. pessimism is that optimism is good most of the time, but at times it is all right to be pessimistic when there is a real threat to a future outcome. It is not good to get into a cycle of pessimism, as this can lead to health problems, and long-term emotional problems. Being pessimistic can be a positive if it is used as a tool to help the person recover from a traumatic event. Quickly recovering from trauma is an essential part of remaining emotionally healthy and avoiding the negative effects of a pessimistic outlook on life.
References
Robinson-Whelen, S., Kim, C., MacCallum, R.C., & Kiecolt-Glaser, J.K. (1997). Distinguishing optimism from pessimism in older adults: Is it more important to be optimistic or not to be pessimistic?. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73(6), 1345-1353.
Sweeny, K., & Shepperd, J.A. (2010). The costs of optimism and the benefits of pessimism. Emotion, 10(5), 750-753.
