An optimist is a person who approaches life and its affairs in a decidedly positive way. He sees the glass half full rather than half empty.
The optimist is convinced that life is basically good and the decorated world is rational, so it is possible to reasonably resolve any situation and get out of it positively, as well as achieve happiness.
According to the optimist, the world is a relatively safe place, and if it is not so temporarily, you can always change this state of affairs to a more positive one. The optimist sees events and other people as good, or ultimately leading to good consequences. He believes that everything will turn out well and prosper in the end. An optimist is the opposition of pessimism, and therefore a negative, distrustful attitude towards events, people and reality.
Types of optimism (and pessimism)
Psychologists divided people into three groups:
- Present-day people – they are incorrigible optimists who trust people, the world and life, enjoy the simplest things and live their lives to the fullest without worrying too much about the past or the future.
- Future-oriented – they are moderate optimists who believe in success and an end to problems in the future. Hope in the victory of good gives them strength to work and live and protects them from stress. Such optimists are usually very busy building future happiness.
- Past – are pessimists, people who live in the past; They keep coming back to it, remembering past events and worrying that they cannot be changed anymore. They often come back to their childhood memories – if it was not the best, it is difficult for them to find themselves in the present life.
According to positive psychology, optimism can be learned the most – you can become an optimist according to your own will and choice. Exercises to internalize such an optimistic attitude include, for example, constantly repeating to oneself, in every situation, that it is good and what it is meant to be. This is known as a celebration of happiness, also in situations that do not look optimistic.
According to some scientists, an optimistic attitude is the result of natural selection. In their opinion, humans would not have survived as a species if they had not been dominated by optimists. Optimism is beneficial and increases the chances of survival also on an individual level – it has been shown that optimists live statistically longer and enjoy better health. Therefore, it is worth being an optimist and it is worth learning an optimistic approach to life and events. Optimists believe that it is worth fighting for a better tomorrow and often achieve this goal because they are convinced that everything will end well. As you know, an (optimistic) attitude is half the battle.
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However, it seems that both being an optimist and a pessimist are genetically determined – this conclusion is now supported by scientists. Low activity of certain genes is associated with an increased degree of life satisfaction and a greater level of optimism. However, this is only the case with women.
In the case of men, the level of optimism depends on the concentration of testosterone in the blood – lower concentration means greater optimism and a subjective feeling of happiness. Researchers have the controversial theory based on this that low testosterone levels tend to make boys more optimistic about puberty. Nevertheless, as already mentioned, one can learn to be optimistic, even if our innate genetic makeup is definitely pessimistic. Given that optimism can be briefly defined as life satisfaction, happiness, and resistance to life’s problems and stress, learning to be optimistic definitely pays off. Stress weakens the immune system, the heart and takes away the joy of life. This is why optimists live longer, and their life expectancy goes hand in hand with its quality. What are the benefits of being an optimist? Optimism is the hope that everything will be fine despite temporary difficulties. This attitude increases resistance to depression and stress when something bad happens, and it also increases work motivation and productivity. Together, the optimist enjoys better health, he has a better mood and does not worry too much.
Interesting facts about optimists
The extreme case of an optimist is pangloss – he is an insane optimist whose unconditionally positive attitude brings nothing but misfortune.