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KathyJo Buiteweg
Lois Parent
AP Language and Composition
12 May 2014
Life as a Pessimist
Life would be easier if people were never disappointed. If people assume the worst from
every person, event, and outcome no one would ever be disappointed. Pessimists are people who
view life as a bad place, and feel that almost, if not all types of situations will end unwell. These
people feel as if they will never win. Is it better to live in a world where there is no
disappointment and always assuming the worst, or is it better to be let down repeatedly and
trying to find the good when there is none?
An analogy to explain the thinking process of a pessimist is that a pessimist always views
the glass half empty. This shows that no matter how far a person has a pessimist will always
notice how much farther they have to go to reach their goal. Pessimists will try to find the
negative in every situation given to them. If they are given a promotion, they do not think that
the promotion is for their skill, they think it could be out of pity for them. If a pessimist wins the
lottery, they do not think about all the money they have just won, they think about all the
unwanted attention they could receive or all the pressure of living a higher life style due to a
sudden change in savings. Even when good opportunities are received by a pessimist they still
find the downside or negative in most scenarios.
A typical pessimist has the characteristics of being a gloomy, sad, and helpless individual.
Pessimists are true masters of learned helplessness. Learned helplessness happens when a person
experiences uncontrollable events that cause the individual to think and expect bad outcomes in

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every situation (Fincham, Frank). Physically you can see a pessimist look gloomy or depressed
when they are alone. When a pessimist is surrounded by a group of peers they tend to put on a
mask. The mask has the appearance of a smile and a happy expression when typically underneath
the person feels the complete opposite of their expressions.

The opposite of a being a pessimist is being an optimist. An optimist is someone who

views life as a glass half full. They see the positive in every situation and expect a good outcome
to occur. If an optimist loses their race, they only see the opportunity to get better and to
congratulate the winner. In an extreme case if an optimist gets fired from their job, they take it as
their skills need more time to develop and now their employer has given them the time to do so.
While pessimists respond better to negative feedback, optimists respond better to positive
feedback. An optimist is the, without question, the complete opposite of a pessimist.
To live life constantly thinking like a pessimist may seem different or a ridiculous to live
but it could possibly prevent future disappointments and let downs with ones self. An article
posted by BBC News they stated: Pessimists can have a far greater capacity for appreciation
than their opposite numbers, for they never expect things to turn out well and so may be amazed
by the modest successes which occasionally break out across their darkened horizons. The
article states that a pessimist always expects the worst. That way, when the worst does not
happen, the pessimists are truly amazed and thankful.
The most common usage of thinking like a pessimist is in a teenage to young adult minds
towards school. A student will think and say they have done horrible on a test or that they have
not learned anything to better them in the future. When a student does think they have done
awful on a test and they in the end did not it can be a confidence booster towards their
academics. The flip side of this scenario is when a students believes they have done brilliant on

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the test but in the end receive a low or failing score. This is a key way that a students confidence
gets taken away because they no longer feel confident in what they are doing academically.
Being a true pessimist or optimist all the time is impossible. Being a pessimist or optimist
for the majority of the time is a possibility. People can never just be one way about situations
every single time, it is impossible to be consistently one sided an entire life time. There has
always been an argument in which way is a better way to live. Being optimistic helps people
pursue their goals in a positive way and helps people deal with negative situations in a positive
manner. On the other hand being pessimistic may help people reduce their anxiety and to
perform better in high stressful situations since they already expect the worst outcome (Dean,
Jeremy).
Individuals who have a tendency to think like pessimists are doctors and scientists.
Doctors and scientists tend to think like pessimists towards their results. Would a person rather
have their doctor tell them the worst scenario when it comes to their sickness or would they
rather the doctor sugar coat it and make it seem as if there is nothing to be worried about when
there is? Scientists tend to be pessimist about their finding and research results. If a scientist was
researching a way to cure a disease, it would be more beneficial to know if the cure works onehundred percent of the time or only thirty percent of the time. Both need to use the pessimist way
of thinking and responding in their situations preparing people for the worst scenarios possible.
It is up to every individual to decide on whether or not they want to become a pessimist
or optimist in certain situations. One thing to take into account is whether the person wants to be
disappointed in the outcome if it is not what was expected, or do they want to take that outcome
and move on from it because it is what was expected? While being a pessimist an entire life time

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is a negative, in many situations it is beneficial to be one, for that a pessimist is never let down or
disappointed in the outcome.

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Works Cited:
Dean, Jeremy. " Pessimism vs Optimism - World of Psychology." Psych Central.com. Ed. John
M. Grohol. Psych Central, 17 Mar. 2011. Web. 17 May 2014.
<http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2011/03/17/pessimism-vs-optimism/>.
Fincham, Frank. "Learned Helplessness." Education.com. Chris Bruzzo, 23 Dec. 2009. Web. 18
May 2014. <http://www.education.com/reference/article/learned-helplessness/>.
Herrman, Steve. "A Point of View: The Advantages of Pessimism." BBC News. BBC, 08 Dec.
2011. Web. 18 May 2014. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14506129>.