Realist Or Pessimist? Who Are You?

Have you ever been called a pessimist? If the answer to that question is yes, but you do not agree and want to know if it is actually true or not, then this article is written for you. Being realistic is often mixed with being pessimistic. But these are two completely different personality traits. Are you a realist or pessimist?

First and foremost, it is important to understand that the tendency to see the negative in things is completely normal. It has an evolutionary and adaptive cause. It should protect you from things that could potentially harm you.

In other words, your psychological protection program is more interested in things that go wrong and can harm you. There is much more interest in it than in things that are going well and that are beneficial to you right now. Still, one is pessimistic if one only sees the negative aspects of what is going on. This adaptation function of discovering the “negative” becomes a problem and lowers your mood.

In fact, there is an intermediate level between pessimistic and optimistic. An optimist tends to see the world as a place with gold and green forests. The intermediate level is called realism. You can choose whether you want to be a realist or a pessimist. To help you understand the differences between realism and pessimism, and to understand who you are, we will explain the concepts below.

What characterizes a pessimistic person?

When some are pessimistic, they have a cognitive-attention bias that psychologist Aaron Beck called selective abstraction. In other words, through this bias, pessimistic people will only be aware of and retain one type of information: the negative. In this way, pessimists will only care about and remember negative information. Often, without noticing it themselves, they will filter information and only see the negative in what is happening.

If you identify with pessimism and think you fall into this cognitive error, do not worry! There is a solution to this error. There are scientifically proven techniques such as cognitive restructuring and cognitive fusion, which can help people distance themselves from certain thoughts. They can also help people modify their psychological, automatic actions and negative thought patterns. Being a realist or pessimist is a choice.

Am I a realist or a pessimist?

If you want to know if you are a realist or a pessimist, keep in mind that pessimistic people see adversity and expect the worst possible outcome. Even when it is very unlikely.

In this way, people can be said to be pessimistic because they have an anxiety-based personality type. These are people on one extreme side of the anxiety scale, which is why they have a negative perspective on life. When someone is pessimistic, they tend to subconsciously limit themselves, think of the worst, and are more sensitive to insecurity. They deal with uncertainty by expecting the worst, so that they can be prepared.

To put it simply: if you are a pessimist, you even automatically see negative aspects in positive events or situations in your life. In other words, pessimistic people focus on things that did not go so well in the midst of clear successes. If you are a pessimist, you have difficulty enjoying what you achieve because you focus on what you could have done better.

So… what characterizes a realist?

First of all, the most characteristic feature of a realist is that they do not rush to take a stand. They wait to see how things develop before they form an opinion. They wait to see what happens, and when they have all the facts on the table, they take a stand. Only then do they decide if something is good or bad.

Therefore , realistic people remain relatively neutral until the outcome of cases is known. They are able to adjust their expectations according to reality.

Likewise, realists do not prepare only mentally for things that may go wrong (by still keeping in mind objective facts). They are also preparing to enjoy what can go well. Such individuals are thus ready for any outcome. They are able to enjoy their feats and they are prepared for possible defeats. But defeat and failure do not stop them from continuing to work to achieve their goals.

Realists do not take part in crisis maximization. They appropriately assess both the positive and negative aspects of situations and problems. That’s what makes them realists.

If you find that you are a pessimist after reading all of this, we want to remind you that a psychologist can help you change these aspects of your personality. They can help you avoid crisis maximization and selective filtering of information you enter. You can choose whether you want to be a realist or a pessimist. Do you take the challenge?