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Learned Optimism

Updated: Dec 30, 2021

“Staying positive does not mean that things will turn out okay. Rather, it is knowing that YOU will be okay no matter how things turn out.” -Anonymous


Optimism comes from the Latin word “optimum” which means the best. It is a mindset of hopefulness and confidence about the future. According to Winston Churchill, a pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. We often hear how a positive outlook will change our life and benefit us. But can it be learnt? Let’s have a look.

Learned optimism

The concept of learned optimism originated from Dr. Martin Seligman’s book of “Learned optimism” in 1990. It is an idea of positive psychology and in contrast to learned helplessness. Learned helplessness is when individuals stop putting effort when faced with challenging situations after repeatedly experiencing them.


Learned optimism is the opposite. It is to challenge our negative thoughts and cultivate optimism by actively challenging them. It is known to make your life better, improve your outlook and promote healthy living.

Pessimism vs optimism

Pessimism is a negative outlook towards life while optimism is a positive outlook. The other differences include the three P’s- permanence, personalisation and pervasiveness.

  • Permanence- Pessimists often believe that a bad event or situation is permanent and not a temporary state. This also leads to pessimists giving up much sooner. Optimists believe that bad events are circumstantial and that they will eventually pass.

  • Personalisation- Pessimists often believe it is their fault a negative event has happened. Optimists seem to believe events surrounding them as a cause. Sometimes it can be a personal fault, however, it is necessary to be aware of all the causes surrounding an event. Optimists are aware and know they can do or try to do a better job next time.

  • Pervasiveness- Pessimists often let low performance in one area affect every other area of their life. They tend to generalize low self-efficacy in one area to their overall self-esteem. Optimists learn to compartmentalize. They let good things brighten their mood even if it's the smallest of things.

These three factors help us understand the difference between pessimists and optimists. It is also important to recognise negative thoughts.

How to recognise negative thoughts

We often fail to recognise negative thoughts and self-talk as most of the time they are automatic. They become like second nature to us, they become much more believable. However, it is also necessary to understand that these thoughts are distorted, won’t be of any use instead are very harmful. Here are some ways to recognise negative thoughts-

  • Labels- When you start putting labels on yourself such as “I am a failure, weak, selfish and so on."

  • Blame- You start blaming yourself for every inconvenient thing that happens to you or people around you.

  • Generalizing- Extending failure at one event to failure in life or overall.

  • Invalidating your accomplishments or feelings- Saying things like I won because the ones better than me didn’t participate, or She met because she had no one else and not because she likes me.

  • Focusing on negatives- Not taking into account all the praise or positive things said about you but focusing on the one negative.

  • Jumping to conclusions- Having thoughts like they didn’t talk to me so they hate me. Other causes are often rejected.

  • Predicting negative things- If in public spaces often thinking, Everyone thinks I am stupid or I won’t get the job even before giving an interview.

  • Exaggerating- Mistakes are looked at too much and there is a need to always strive for perfection and nothing less.


Developing optimism

According to Martin Seligman, anyone can be optimistic. He has developed the ABCDE model of learned optimism along with a test of learned optimism to help people understand at what level of optimism they are at. The ABCDE model stands for Adversity, Belief, Consequence, Disputation and Energization.

  • Adversity- In this, remember a situation where you faced adversity. Remember what caused the event. What was the cause? Was it you or was it something else as the cause?

  • Belief- Noting down the feelings regarding the event, taking into account all the negative thoughts and feelings.

  • Consequence- How did you respond to the event? Did you spiral down into negative thoughts or did you find a way to improve the situation?

  • Disputation- This is challenging your belief or view of the event. With this, you try to find beliefs that contradict and prove your negative feelings wrong.

  • Energization- This is the outcome as a result of challenging your beliefs. In what ways does this compel you to move forward? How does this make you feel?

Improving optimism

The previous model was a way to develop optimism. Dr. Martin has also given ways to improve optimism through a few exercises.

  • Your Best Possible Self- In this, you have to imagine a future with all optimistic outcomes. This exercise gives us a new perspective of life and strays us away from negative feelings and thoughts.

  • Perspective- With this, you do the opposite of the best possible self. You have to imagine the worst-case scenario of the problem you are worried about. Think about what you would do in that case. Then imagine a better outcome. It helps put things into perspective with a view that there can be solutions for almost every situation.

  • Distraction- When it becomes difficult to get out of the loop of negative thoughts distract yourself. This can be done in various ways such as-

  • Startling yourself,

  • Journaling negative thoughts,

  • Mindfulness and so on.

Benefits of optimism

Research has suggested several benefits for an optimistic person. Such as-

  • Improved health- Optimism, according to research, plays a significant role in cardiovascular diseases, cancer, mortality. Optimists are known to live longer lives than pessimists.

  • Stress levels- A positive attitude indicates the ability to face lower stress levels. It improves resilience, quicker recovery from setbacks.

  • Better mental health- Optimists with a positive outlook are more likely to have higher levels of well-being. Optimism is shown to reduce depression.

  • Motivation level- Optimists are likely to try harder and not give up easily. They will focus on positive changes and reach their goals.

With this, we know the benefits of optimism. But as we know, too much of anything is bad. Sometimes, optimism can be leaning towards toxic positivity and we would not know. Too much optimism can also lead to us overestimating ourselves or not being ready for challenges. It is necessary to take into account all of that.


Also, keep in mind learning optimism is a continuous process. This process needs challenging ourselves, repeating the steps at times. Eventually, we will develop optimism.


“Optimism is a strategy for making a better future. Because unless you believe that the future can be better, you are unlikely to step up and take responsibility for making it so.”-Noam Chomsky


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