Optimists, pessimists and realists: a medal with two sides and an edge. Optimists, pessimists and realists: a medal with two sides and an edge How to understand whether I am a pessimist or an optimist
Hooray, abstract topic! Optimist, pessimist, realist and indifference– these 4 personality types that I want to talk about today are very different from each other. And I propose to analyze them in more detail, identify their characteristic features, and draw conclusions about which of these types you should strive for and why. Looking ahead, I will say that drawing such conclusions is, in fact, not at all easy. But first things first…
There are many discussions and debates about these four personality types, jokes and aphorisms are even written about them, and there are many tests to determine your type. What is the difference between an optimist and a pessimist, a realist and a don’t care? This can be expressed very briefly and in simple words using a simple example:
A pessimist sees a dark tunnel. An optimist is the light at the end of the tunnel. The realist is the light at the end of the tunnel, and the train coming towards him from there. The person who doesn't care also sees the train, but he doesn't care.
Or another example. An optimist sees the glass as half full. Pessimist - that the glass is half empty. The realist sees exactly half a glass of water. Nobody cares how much water is in the glass.
Here is the simplest test to determine who you are: an optimist, a pessimist, a realist or a don’t care? Just one question:
These 4 personality types project a similar vision onto a variety of situations, processes, and areas of their life. Let's look at this in more detail.
Who is an optimist?
Optimist is a person who looks at life, its processes, phenomena with a positive vision of the future. Among all the possible outcomes of a certain event, he sees the most successful, the most promising. “Everything is good, but it will be even better!” - this is the life motto of an optimist.
Typically, an optimist is defined as the best personality type out of these four. Psychologists and trainers teach us to be optimistic, explaining it as follows.
Thoughts are material, and what a person thinks about is what he attracts to himself. If he thinks about good things, he will attract good things, and life will turn out better. He will think about the bad - accordingly, on the contrary.
Yes, of course, there is a rational grain in this. I myself wrote a whole article about how important it is. However, there is also a significant drawback to optimism.
An optimist always underestimates risks or completely neglects them. And as a result of making decisions based on one’s optimism rather than common sense, one often suffers some losses. Including financial ones.
We can say that an optimist looks at life with rose-colored glasses.
Who is a pessimist?
Pessimist is a person who looks at life, its processes, and phenomena with a negative vision of the future. Among all possible outcomes of an event, he sees the worst. “Everything is bad, but it will get even worse!” - this is the life motto of a pessimist.
The same psychologists claim that it is bad to be a pessimist, why - I already wrote above. However, pessimism also has the other side of the coin.
A pessimist is overly cautious and attentive. Since he foresees a negative outcome of an event, he will do everything possible to protect himself from negative consequences. Pessimists are reinsurers, and in certain areas this can be regarded as a positive quality. Again, incl. and in financial matters.
We can say that a pessimist looks at life with dark glasses.
Who is a realist?
Realist is a person who looks at life, its processes, phenomena with a real, most accurate vision of the future. Among all the possible outcomes of an event, he sees the one that is most likely to happen, no matter whether it is positive or negative. A realist, unlike an optimist and a pessimist, analyzes the situation without emotions, relying on a cold mind and sober calculation.
We can say that it is not bad to be a realist, because they choose the optimal option more often than others and make fewer mistakes than others. But this also has its downsides.
In the lives of most people, and indeed in the world around us, negative events predominate. And a realist really sees this, that is, in fact, he perceives the situation as a pessimist. Therefore, he is largely characterized by all the shortcomings of a pessimist.
We can say that a realist looks at life using ordinary glasses to improve vision.
Who is this nonsense?
Don't care- this is a person who looks at life, its processes, phenomena with indifference. He doesn’t care what the outcome of the event will be, he doesn’t worry and doesn’t experience any emotions about it. "Come what may!" - that’s the motto of a person who doesn’t care.
Quite a few people are of the opinion that among these four personality types, those who don't give a damn have the best life. Simply because they don’t worry about every little thing, nothing worries them, doesn’t make them angry, doesn’t irritate them, doesn’t make them angry. Those who don't care live a calm, measured life, without really thinking about whether they are making the right decision or not.
I also believe that in certain situations, not giving a damn is the best position. But not in all of them! And this type of personality can also have significant shortcomings.
Those who don't give a damn have the hardest time achieving anything in life because they don't strive for anything. A person who doesn't give a damn will never make an outstanding personality; as a rule, this is the so-called. “gray mass” floating with the flow.
And now that I have briefly described all 4 personality types - optimist, pessimist, realist and indifference, let's try to draw a conclusion: who is best to be? And this is exactly the case when I personally do not have such an unambiguous conclusion.
I believe that a person should combine the qualities of an optimist and a pessimist, a realist and a don’t care, and, depending on the situation, take one position or another. It will be best this way.
For example, I most likely have a predominant realist approach. At least that's how I see myself. At the same time, you can find qualities of all other personality types in me.
And who are you? Optimist, pessimist, realist or don't care? And, in your opinion, who is best to be and why? Write your opinion in the comments, I think it will be interesting.
I say goodbye to you with best wishes. Subscribe to our public pages on social networks to quickly track the release of new publications. See you at!
Test. Optimist or pessimist?
In many dictionaries, optimism is defined as a perception of the world around us, imbued with cheerfulness and faith in the future, and pessimism is a perception imbued with despondency and disbelief in a better future.
In the opinion of pessimists, failures will last a long time, relate to most areas of their life, and they themselves are to blame for them. In a difficult situation, pessimists become depressed.
Failures cannot break optimists. After all, they are temporary, affecting only a small part of their life, and optimists themselves are innocent of these problems. They are more likely to achieve success at work, in sports and school, and in their personal lives.
Two people - two different views, two different approaches to life. There are people who always lack something, always have something to complain about. There are others: they know how to rejoice and find a bright moment in any situation. And the point here is not what a person has, but how he evaluates what he has.
Professor of psychology from the University of Heidelberg Klaus Fieder, as a result of many years of research, came to the conclusion: people in a gloomy mood think conservatively, but out of fear of making a mistake they work carefully. On the contrary, a cheerful mood stimulates discovery, a creative approach to business, but also a willingness to take risks that are fraught with failure. Therefore, probably the most correct solution is to be able to find a middle ground: not to exaggerate troubles and not to indulge yourself with illusions.
How do you look at the world around you? Answer the test questions "Yes" or "No".
1. Do you like to travel?
2. Would you like to learn anything else besides what you already know?
3. Do you often take sleeping pills or sedatives?
4. Do you like visiting and receiving guests?
5. Do you often manage to predict impending troubles?
6. Don’t you think that your friends have achieved more in life than you?
7. Is there a place for any sports activities in your life?
8. Do you think that fate is unfair to you?
9. Are you concerned about a possible global environmental disaster?
10. Do you agree that scientific progress creates more problems than it solves?
11. Did you choose your profession successfully?
12. Have you insured your property?
13. Would you agree to move to another city if you were offered an interesting job there?
14. Are you satisfied with your appearance?
15. Do you often feel unwell?
16. Is it easy for you to get used to an unfamiliar environment and find your place in a new team?
17. Do people around you consider you an energetic, active person?
18. Do you believe in selfless friendship?
19. Are there any personal good omens for you - lucky numbers, lucky days of the week, etc.?
20. Do you believe that everyone is the architect of their own happiness?
Let's summarize.
Put 1 point for answer "Yes" to questions 1, 2, 4, 7, 11 And 13-20 , And 0 points for answer "No" to the same questions.
Put 1 point for answer "No" to questions 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12
And
0 points for answer "Yes" to the same questions.
Count up the points. If you typed:
0-4 points
It seems that life has pretty much beaten you down, and you no longer expect anything good from it. You consider adversity inevitable, joy - random. Self-pity and distrust of people prevent you from enjoying life. To cheer up and perk up your spirit at least a little, learn to appreciate those little joys that fall to each of us. Don't forget: life is never so bad that it cannot be changed by our attitude towards it.
5-9 points
By nature you are a cheerful person, but in the trials of life you have lost a fair amount of your optimism. Sadness and unfulfilled hopes often darken your mood. Your actions are predominantly dictated not by the desire for a goal, but by the desire to avoid failure. Because of this, little can be achieved. After all, when you expect trouble, it will happen. Try changing your perspective. You have enough strength to change a lot for the better.
10-14 points
Congratulations, you are a realist, a sensible person who knows the value of yourself and people. You know how to set realistic goals and achieve them. You clearly see the shadow sides of life, but are not inclined to savor them. For your friends and loved ones, you are a reliable support, because you know how to console in grief and cool down excessive delight.
15-18 points
You are full of love of life and optimism, you always know how to find the bright side in events and people, if it is worth doing. Dejection rarely visits you, since it is not a completely constructive emotion, in your opinion. However, such a position is fraught with some misunderstanding with others who do not share your optimism. You should think about the reasons for both their dissatisfaction and your confidence that everything will be fine. Is there a basis for these opinions and how important is it? How successful are you with this approach to life? Are your efforts adequate to the results you get?
19-20 points
Your optimism is simply overflowing. It’s as if troubles don’t exist for you, and you simply brush them aside, rushing towards new joys. However, think about it: is your position too frivolous? It is possible that underestimating serious problems will one day cause you to face unexpected grief.
Optimism (from Latin Optimus - “best”) is the tendency to see the good sides of everything in life, to believe in success and a successful outcome of something.
Pessimism is a gloomy, joyless outlook on life, a tendency to see everything in a gloomy light; sad mood.
In essence, optimism and pessimism are two sides of the same coin: the front, bright and joyful, and the back - gloomy and gray.
However, there is another important term in the explanatory dictionary - realism. It denotes the ability to clearly understand and realistically evaluate the surrounding reality when implementing something.
An optimist and a pessimist are two extremes, between which lies the birth point of a realist.
Realism comes when the expectation of good and bad in a person comes to a certain state of balance.
Which view of the world is better?
There is an opinion that the best way to perceive the world is optimistic.
After all, who is an optimist? This is someone who never loses heart, sees only the good sides in everything, does not think about the worst, and is able to find positive aspects in any trouble.
The importance of optimists in our lives cannot be overestimated: employers love them for their ability to forgive bullying, and for the fact that they calmly treat overtime and never escalate the situation. Colleagues - for their kindness and mutual assistance. Neighbors - for a calm atmosphere in the house. Our psyche cannot stand discomfort and tries with all its might to avoid it, so an optimist is a person whose communication evokes positive feelings. While a pessimist is the type of personality that everyone runs away from like fire: a quarrelsome, bilious, eternally dissatisfied subject, capable of ruining anyone’s mood with complaints.
If you characterize a person, the word “optimist” immediately tells the interlocutor a lot due to his positive outlook on life.
The dangers of excessive optimism
Few people think that an overly rosy view of the world can be even more dangerous and unpleasant for the optimist himself than the gloomy perception of reality by a chronic pessimist.
Often optimism goes hand in hand with kindness and a reluctance to create conflict situations, argue, or defend one’s point of view. This means that such a person, being offended or finding himself in an unpleasant situation due to someone else’s fault, will forgive everything instead of demanding compensation from the one who is to blame. And, if in everyday life this only harms the optimist himself and his family (“Did the neighbors flood? Why fight with them, we’ll restore everything at our own expense”), then at work it can result in serious troubles for the entire organization.
An optimist, unlike a pessimist, can underestimate the situation, hoping for a good outcome, and if something unpleasant happens, he will be confused.
The pessimist is ready for trouble, and therefore has a plan for the worst case scenario, but the optimist finds himself face to face with misfortune, the possibility of which he did not even think about - it simply never occurred to him that everything could be so bad!
Pessimism has its positive sides
Who is a pessimist, according to the majority? A loser who, due to his bad character and eternal discontent, has no friends.
This is true only for the most persistent, most “ideological” pessimists, a textbook example of which can be considered a mechanic named Philidor Zeleny from Kir Bulychev’s stories about Alisa Selezneva. His immortal phrases: “This will not end well!” and “But I warned you!” can be called a reflection of the most negative side of the pessimistic view.
However, there are also conditionally “moderate” pessimists, which means that there are people who see not the whole world in black, but only its individual parts.
The definition of the term itself suggests that a pessimist is someone who constantly expects meanness and misfortune from the world. And this is where his strength lies.
A true pessimist always remembers: no matter how much you hope for a successful outcome of events, the probability of an unsuccessful outcome is much higher, and in order to minimize the damage, you should, while hoping for the best, always prepare for the worst.
Therefore, a pessimist who strives for self-improvement does not have to try to change his outlook on life - sometimes it is enough to develop his strengths (anticipating troubles and preparing for them) and learning to cope with negative ones.
The third side of the coin is the perfect rib
Realism has many meanings: for some it means a dry businessman who methodically calculates how to profitably evaluate a given situation, while others believe that an interesting extreme is better than a boring, smooth middle.
In reality, being a realist means recognizing that any situation can turn out in either a good or bad direction; that life is multifaceted and does not provide ready-made answers; You can’t constantly expect troubles, but you shouldn’t hope only for joys either, so as not to be deceived.
A realist looks at the situation evenly and reasonably, makes decisions based on the actual state of affairs. He does not console himself with the thought that “tomorrow will be better,” but he also does not spoil his mood with thoughts about the troubles that may follow good luck.
Realism allows you to soberly evaluate those around you, your own actions, not go too far when making decisions, and makes it possible to show flexibility depending on the situation: a realist, without being tied to one extreme or another, has the opportunity to choose the type of his own reaction.
Where for a pessimist there is almost no water in the glass, and mentally he is dying of thirst, afraid to take a sip; but for the optimist there is still a lot of water, and he will die after finishing the water in one gulp; a realist will clearly calculate how quickly he can allow himself to empty his glass so as not to be left a fool.
Optimist and pessimist - where is the guarantee of happiness?
The meaning of the word "optimist" is in no way related to the word "optimal", and this should be clearly understood: yes, people with a benevolent outlook on the world are pleasant and liked, but this does not mean that they always do everything right or are happier than rest.
Happiness is such a weightless concept that even the most positive outlook on life will not guarantee that you will receive this very thing at your personal disposal as payment for a smile, good nature and the ability to regard troubles as something positive.
At the same time, the constant expectation of failure, ironclad readiness for them and a plan for the most terrible situations in life do not guarantee that the straw placed on all sides will protect you from troubles.
Both optimists and pessimists - all these people are capable of making mistakes, not foreseeing something, not anticipating something, or underestimating something. Even realism does not guarantee a happy life, however, self-improvement gives a greater chance that such changes will not pass without a trace, and this inspires hope for the best.
After all, a person who has smoothed out the rough edges of his character and developed his strengths always has more friends, he exudes harmony, he evokes a positive response in the souls of those around him, and makes both himself and others happy. Who knows, maybe this is precisely the essence of happiness?
People are often divided into pessimists and optimists. A long time ago I read such a humorous story. I don’t remember verbatim, but something like: “A pessimist and an optimist had an accident and broke the same number of ribs and limbs.
The pessimist lamented that he had broken his arm and three whole ribs, the optimist was glad that his second arm was intact and twenty-nine more ribs were equally intact. After being discharged, the first one complained to everyone that he had been lying in a hospital bed for a whole month, the second one said that the doctors kept him for about four weeks. And so on...
The story is funny and quite instructive. In fact, many things can look completely different depending on which side you look at. In addition to the above-mentioned views on life, psychologists also talk about realism. This is how, for example, Ozhegov’s dictionary defines three categories of people.
Pessimism is a gloomy attitude in which a person does not believe in the future and tends to see the dull and bad in everything.
Optimism - A cheerful and cheerful attitude, in which a person sees the bright side in everything, believes in success, in the fact that the world is dominated by a positive principle, goodness.
Realism - A clear and sober understanding of reality when implementing something.”
Like this. I have nothing against Ozhegov, of course. The man did a titanic job, defining many words in the Russian language. For example, there is even an explanation in the dictionary for such a word as “sit” - to occupy a position in which the body rests on something with its lower part. This, if anyone doesn't know.
While still at school, in some magazine I came across a parody of Ozhegov’s formulations. What definition can be given to the word “sensation”? Here's what it is. Nobody can give you a more accurate answer. Sensation is the feeling we get when we feel something!
Pessimists are sometimes called skeptics, and vice versa. But these concepts are slightly different, although similar. For pessimists, everything is gloomy; skeptics see only certain things as negative. You can be skeptical about religions, certain scientific statements, ideas, but still be an optimist
But we digress. So, we found out that pessimism is when everything is bad, even when it’s good. Optimism when everything is great, even if it is clear that things are going wrong. And realism is when it is, as it is. Everything seems to be clear. But I would go further and dig deeper.
Can realism even exist in its pure form? After all, in our story, both the skeptic and the optimist talked about what takes place in reality. Only they have their own reality, each with their own.
There is a glass on the table, half filled with water. The question is, is the glass half empty or half full? Which truth is more correct? Probably Anton Chekhov was right, who said something like this: “Life is undoubtedly a very unpleasant thing, but you need to try to find comforting moments in it. When you have a toothache, be glad that it’s just one tooth and not all of your teeth. If your wife cheated, reassure yourself with that. that is only for you, and not for the Motherland.”
And I also think Anatoly Kashpirovsky is right when he gives advice on how to get less trouble in life. “When laughter is choking you, try to reduce it to a simple smile, and if grief is tearing you apart, try to turn it into slight sadness.”
There is also this Taoist parable:
“Wan Yi, who lived near the eastern gate, died a son. But he didn't grieve. They asked him: “Sir, you loved your son like no one else in the Celestial Empire!” Why are you not grieving now? To which he replied: “Before, when I didn’t have a son, I didn’t grieve.” And now he’s gone, just as he wasn’t before... So why should I grieve?”
This arrangement may seem almost cynical to us. That is why the parable emphasizes that the father loved his son very much, but... what happened has already happened. And there is no point in poisoning yourself with grief.
I can give you an example from my own life. Even in my youth, working on a regular five-day schedule, I jokingly constantly besieged my colleagues, who were happy on Fridays because there were two whole weekends ahead.
I told them that there was nothing to be happy about, because now it would be Monday again very soon. People asked me when to rejoice. As when, on Monday and rejoice. Rejoice that Friday is coming!
At one time, in order to calm down a person who was very upset by some nonsense, well, he lost his wallet, had a fight with his boss, you never know, I used this trick of my own invention.
He said this:
- Listen. You understand that in just 270 years, your problem will not matter at all.
Most often, the person first looked puzzled, then asked:
— Why exactly after 270?
I explained with a serious look:
- Well, because I think that after such a period of time no one will remember about it. And the number is beautiful...
Here the interlocutor, as a rule, began to engage in his own thinking and began to reason independently:
- No, well, what does 270 have to do with it? And in 100 years, will anyone remember? Yes, what 100 are there! In a year... Yes, I’ll forget in a month, or maybe in three days!
Oddly enough, this kind of joke really calmed people down many times. You can look at the same event as a trifle, or you can see it as a universal catastrophe. It all depends on what angle you look at, or from what level.
On the other hand, you shouldn’t admire someone or something too much. The higher we place something or someone in our lives, the more palpable the bitterness of loss. And in some cases, we should evaluate what is happening more critically, when a dose of pessimism is simply necessary.
So, if you really want to be realistic, in moments of despair, look for optimistic moments in the situation, and when everything is very good, don’t be too jubilant, wait for the catch. remember, that “fate never favors with true sincerity.”
Created 07 Jul 2017Test result
Optimist
An optimist is a person who, even when between two troubles, always makes a wish.
You are the person who charges those around you with your positive energy. Very often, people enter your social circle just to bask in the rays of your positivity. You perceive any problems as temporary difficulties and always sincerely believe that everything will work out and will be even better! You are intolerant of people around you who like to exaggerate. Do you think that life should be lived only in a positive mood or not lived at all!
People around you love you, and many sincerely envy your easy-going nature.
Test result
Pessimist
“A pessimist sees difficulties in every opportunity, an optimist sees opportunities in every difficulty” W. Churchill.
A pessimist is a person who turns a positive into two negatives. Pessimistic people are always tuned in to a bad outcome, even when nothing foretells trouble.
Most often, a pessimist leads a secluded life, he has very few or no friends. At the same time, this outcome of the matter does not bother him at all, because a pessimist knows that in this world one cannot trust anyone.
Communication with a pessimistic person makes people feel indignant and want to say goodbye to this person as soon as possible. Dejection, melancholy, detachment, belief in the worst are the faithful companions of a pessimist.
In order not to completely fall into the abyss of his own experiences and eternal disappointments, a pessimist should certainly surround himself with optimists or, at worst, realists. Both will balance his picture of the world, without completely painting the whole world with dark colors.
If you feel that debilitating blues and an eternally bad mood have become your eternal companions, immediately seek help from a specialist.
Test result
Realist
A pessimist complains about the wind. An optimist hopes for a change in the weather. The realist sets sail.
Prudence, excellent self-control, the ability to always control the situation are your indispensable companions. In any confusing, strange and often incomprehensible situation, you know how to find the only correct solution. Looking at the world through rose-colored glasses or, conversely, exaggerating things is definitely not your habit. Your realism always helped you out, even if you found yourself in the most delicate situations.
You hate it when people begin to explain obvious phenomena, guided by theories of magic and esotericism.If you make any mistake or mistake, then carefully analyze the situation and try to do everything to prevent this from happening in the future.
It is possible that sometimes you would like to be more reckless and frivolous. But eventually you realize that you just couldn't live with it.
You never let people get close until you have "tested their strength." Those who don't deserve your trust will never be there for you. You are constantly in search of that ideal state in which you would like to be in this life. You don't like careless, careless, lazy, reckless people.
Your exceptional intellectual abilities and attitude towards reality leave no doubt that in life you will certainly achieve success in your chosen profession.
