Can we change someone to look at their own life more optimistically? How does this influence people who are socially anxious or angry? How can being optimistic make it easier to deal with adversity?
peer 1: Grace
Glass half-full? Or glass half-empty? Which one do you gravitate towards? This week I will be touching on whether or not we can change someone to be more optimistic, and how their personalities may pose more of an issue in that area than we think! Due to the lack of depth in section 8.5 in our textbook, I have decided to combine my textbook and internet passages this week.
TEXTBOOK/INTERNET:
Section 8.5 in our textbook this week covers optimism and pessimism; the entire section compares and contrasts each tendecy based on how people react to different situations. To be honest with you, I feel that this section is missing a lot of information; I understand that textbooks don’t always cover every angle though. The text breaks down “the extent to which a person typically adopts an optimistic or pessimistic approach to dealing with life’s challenges,” as dispositional optimism. Essentially, the entire section summarizes that optimists lead better and healthier lives, and pessimists lead more unhealthy and withdrawn lives. Being optimistic can lead to better outcomes in so many ways; folks who undergo heart surgery with an open-mind and positive attitude tend to do better in post-surgery rehabilitation than those who were pessimistic. Jumping back a chapter or two to active and avoidance strategies, optimism, for example, “can be associated with taking an active approach for both maximizing one’s well-being and minimizing stressors. Pessimism, on the other hand, is associated with using mostly escape and avoidance strategies when dealing with distress.” Of course these tendancies come into play when dealing with anxiety and anger! But you guessed it, someone who leans more on pessimism tends to experience anxiety and anger more frequently than someone who has an optimistic approach in life. “An optimistic view of life was found to decrease the risk of mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and probable alcohol abuse.” But if that’s the case, how do we change this to become healthier versions of oursleves, and lead a better life? Let’s get into it.
What about the in-between? What about the people who find themselves in middle of this optimistic-pessimistic spectrum? What if I am optimistic in some situations, and pessimistic in others? Am I still healthy? Well, a medical article online exposed that a person can be optimistic in specific areas of life, like having optimistc thoughts that their marriage or relationship will succeed, but be pessimistic in other areas, like expecting financial difficulties ahead. People may also shift positions on the optimism-pessimism continuum throughout their lives. This continuum is said to have a middle, and people who find themselves in the middle may identify as realists. With all of this said, how do we change our outlook on things to better our lives? And can we actually do that? You can start with becoming more mindful! Being mindful and aware of negative thoughts as they come and why you feel that way can be a great way of dealing with your pessimistic tendancies. Believe it or not, surrounding yourself with positive and supportive people can be a game changer; being around these types of people can increase your mood and most likely drive you to be more positive as well. If you hang out with debby-downers all the time, it can take a toll on your attitude in life and you may not even sense the shift happen. Just to clarify though, not all pessimism is bad, and something like positive pessimism can be a very effective response to difficulty and risks in life-but it does not allow anxiety to prevent ACTION!
peer 2: Autumn
Can we change someone to look at their own life more optimistically?
We can defiantly change someone’s optimism. Optimism involves believing that good things will happen and that you can take steps to help ensure that good things will happen. Being optimistic about life can help you approach problems with an open mind, improve your mood, and boost your subjective well-being. Researchers find that having confidence in one’s abilities is often the key to success. In particular, optimists are less likely to allow setbacks and temporary failures to get them down. psychologists find that a positive outlook is often associated with high achievement and a positive mood. For example, people who approach an upcoming event believing they will do well tend to perform better and feel better about themselves than those who enter the situation thinking things will likely turn out poorly.
How does this influence people who are socially anxious or angry?
People who are socially anxious are very concerned about what others will think of them and become self-conscious when they meet new people or have to talk in front of an audience. Quite often, socially anxious people think about what they are doing wrong, how stupid they must sound, and how foolish they must look. Not only do socially anxious people fear that others will think poorly of them, they often assume incorrectly that other people simply are not interested in getting to know them. therapy programs designed to help people overcome problems with shyness often focus on getting clients to believe that they can say the right thing and that they can make a good impression. Optimism can help individuals with social anxiety see situations in a more positive light. Instead of dwelling on potential negative outcomes or perceived judgments from others, they may start to focus on the potential for positive interactions and outcomes. This shift in perspective can reduce anxiety in social situations and make them feel more confident and at ease.
-Optimism can help people who have trouble controlling their anger by helping them see things in a more positive light. Instead of getting angry quickly when they feel wronged, they might start thinking about how to solve problems calmly. Optimism can also help them forgive and move on from bad feelings, which can make their relationships healthier and make them feel better overall.
How can being optimistic make it easier to deal with adversity?
Optimism helps people stay positive when things get tough. Instead of feeling like problems are too big to handle, optimistic folks see them as temporary bumps in the road that they can work through. This mindset helps them stay strong, come up with creative solutions, and keep going when things get hard. In the end, they’re more likely to overcome challenges and become even stronger because of them.
peer 3: Mia
Textbook- Being optimistic in certain situations is much easier said than done, but is very worth it in the end for your well being. In such hard situations like getting surgery and moving to a new school it can be hard to try not to be pessimistic when that is the “usual” outcome or feeling typically felt during. When you are optimistic during this adversity, it helps your body and overall well being. Relating back to the surgery situation, the text states, “In one study, optimistic women who had surgery for breast cancer reported less distress during the year following the surgery and showed higher levels of adjustment several years later than pessimistic women going through the same experience.” (8.5) Optimism is defined as hopefulness and confidence about the future or the successful outcome of something. Optimism really is so much more; sometimes this is just what people need to get through the day or to get through a really shitty situation. (Sorry for the language) Thinking that everything will be okay in the end and will work out will make adverse situations not as bad and hard to go through, rather than being pessimistic and being worried, anxious, and bad about the outcome. Another example from the text that relates to us right now is about college students, “Freshman students with an optimistic outlook have a significantly easier time adjusting to the demands of their first quarter than do pessimistic students.” (8.5) Optimism is just the start to a happy and healthy lifestyle, according to these studies, if you continue to have faith and optimism through hard times, it will work its way back to you and you will not regret it.
Internet- Trying to change anyone in any way is extremely difficult if they do not want to change for themselves first. There is a saying that goes like, “You can’t change someone that doesn’t want to be changed”, which is very true, but not impossible. There are many ways to help someone look at their life optimistically, but personally on if we can change someone to look optimistically, it really depends on if the other individual wants to change. This influences greatly on people who are socially anxious or angry because those are terrible things to go through on a daily basis, and are harder to shake than other situations. These people might feel like nothing good can come out of the pain they are feeling and the anxiety/anger they feel might just be blocking their view of a good outcome. I found a website on an article called, “How to Become Far More Optimistic (Without Lying to Yourself) which has some great tips. I also was really drawn to the title because optimism can seem fake sometimes with how happy people seem, and this article made it very realistic and a lighter topic to understand and try. One idea the writer even uses himself is, “I’m not saying everything will always go my way. (That would be unrealistic and naive.) Instead, I’m just saying that I’ll maintain the expectation that things will go well.” (Anthony J. Young) To me this is a great way to look at it because then in some situations where it does not end up as you hoped, you won’t be as upset by it and will still be hopeful for next time/other situations. Some other ways I found that are great to cope with anxiety, and help with optimism are to find another track in tough situations; try to find the good rather than focusing on the bad, and to establish a support system. (Orlando Health) Having a support system of people you trust and care about, are able to calm you down, and just to talk with does wonders for your mental health and for your future optimism.
