Theoretical debates are entertaining but ignore the complexity. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.” Certainly, in the long run, I would rather aim for the moon, miss, landing on the stars than aim for a pile of dung and hit my target. It is the only view of life in which you can never be disappointed.” Norman Vincent Peale, one of the early positive thinking ambassadors, would scoff at such thinking. Perhaps, a pessimistic approach would prevent the dissonance and the associated disappointment.Įnglish novelist and poet, Thomas Hardy wrote, “pessimism is, in brief, playing the sure game. In unrealistic optimism, our belief in a grand future collides with the typical experience of ordinariness, creating disappointment and demanding reconciliation. A discrepancy between beliefs and realities creates a chasm, a disruption in the mind, needing reconciliation. Basically, we seek psychological consistency. In the 1950’s, Leon Festinger introduced cognitive dissonance theory (for more see: Cognitive Dissonance). Research has linked optimism to everything from a longer lifespan, better sleep, and lower risk of disease. #Unrealistic optimism definition psychology professionalMany self-help enthusiasts and professional therapists prescribe positive thinking to promote happiness-and it works. And we all want to feel good-well, most of us do. First, above all, hope in a brighter future feels good. Optimism is prime for marketing (See Roses are Red or Five Minutes a Day). Norman Vincent Peale is known for his best seller The Power of Positive Thinking. Napoleon Hill published Think and Grow Rich in 1937. Optimism painted in broad strokes misses significant limitations (and even harms) that lurk in unhealthy expectations, lurching from the darkness, harming the unsuspecting unrealistic dreamer.Įarly pioneers in positive thinking tickled our hopeful fancies with books that still sit on the top of “must read” lists. However, like other psychological concepts, optimism is complex and has some notable tradeoffs. Marketing geniuses create products that exploit these vulnerabilities, promising roses to those planting dandelions. We want happiness and spend precious money to get it. The well-being market is fueled with billions of dollars. Scientific findings are the malleable fodder that life coaches, wellness advocates, and motivational speakers run with, magnifying specific findings into ginormous, all-encompassing wonderfulness. Research provides an abundance of support for being high on optimism. Like most pessimist, I prefer being called a realist. Over the last couple decades, positive psychology has touted many benefits of being optimistic, perhaps proclaiming more than what optimism can provide.
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