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pessimism

File:Оптимист_и_пессимист.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Also known as negativism

thumb|220px|An optimist and a pessimist, Vladimir Makovsky, 1893

AI overview

Pessimism is the tendency to expect negative outcomes or to focus on the worst aspects of situations rather than the best. It matters because how pessimistic or optimistic we are can influence our decisions, mental health, and how we respond to challenges in life.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Research

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Wikidata facts

Subclass of
attitude
Image
Punishment sisyph.jpg
Show 5 more facts
facet of
psychology
opposite of
optimism
Commons category
Pessimism
described by source
The Nuttall Encyclopædia
on focus list of Wikimedia project
Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4
Sources (3)

via Wikidata · CC0

~18 min read

Encyclopedic overview

14 sections
Contents
  • Etymology
  • As a psychological disposition
  • Criticism
  • Pragmatic criticism
  • Other forms of pessimism
  • Philosophical pessimism
  • Political and cultural
  • Technological and environmental
  • Entropy pessimism
  • Legal
  • See also
  • Notes
  • Further reading
  • External links

thumb|220px|An optimist and a pessimist, Vladimir Makovsky, 1893

Pessimism is a mental attitude in which an undesirable outcome is anticipated from a given situation. Pessimists tend to focus on the negatives of life in general. A common question asked to test for pessimism is "Is the glass half empty or half full?"; in this situation, a pessimist is said to see the glass as half empty, or in extreme cases completely empty, while an optimist is said to see the glass as half full. Throughout history, the pessimistic disposition has had effects on all major areas of thinking.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “pessimism” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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