5 Uncommon Side Effects of Optimism

Steer clear of blinding optimism in favor of reasonable expectations

This quest to find disadvantages of optimism started when I came to know of a theory that said that optimists were usually a few minutes late. I had always struggled with this problem in my personal life and business commitments. I rarely met my deadlines. I had a habit of being late, as one of my former bosses said.

I worship optimism as if it is dogmatic truth. It is something that helps me see the sunny side of reality. I can always see the glass as half full. It makes me feel self-righteous. I feel all warm and fuzzy whenever I speak on the topic of optimism.

I could never imagine there could be a disadvantage of optimism. It counterintuitively implied that pessimism could have some advantages. To my optimistic creed, it was heresy.

As it turns out, there is a thing called Optimism Bias, first described by psychologists Daniel Kahneman, a Nobel Laureate, and Amos Tversky in the best-selling book — Thinking, Fast and Slow.

In simple words, optimists push possible adverse outcomes under the rug to create an illusion of control in their minds. Optimism as a theory looks appealing, but in real-life situations, it is disciplined hard work coupled with a pessimistic bias that makes more sense.

Psychologists Gruman, Schneider, and Coutts, authors of the book Applied Social Psychology — Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems, say that optimists can have unrealistic expectations in matters related to money, relationships, and work. We can say that in addition to healthy optimism, there is another variety called blinding optimism.

The question is, where do you stand?

If you are the kind of person who insists everything is going to be excellent despite insurmountable odds, it means that you are overly optimistic. However, if you make a step wise strategy, and jump to immediate action, saying that there is a reasonable probability that things may turn out to be okay, you are a healthy optimist.

The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.

Optimism is not a psychological panacea for all our life problems. Fortunately, there might be a cure in store for hopeless optimists like me. The list of the disadvantages or side effects of being overly optimistic goes like this:

1. Stress-related health issues

Reasonably optimistic people have better health than pessimists. However, the blinded optimists — in their efforts to achieve unrealistic expectations — feel overwhelmed and stressed when things do not go according to their expectations.

The long term stress can be damaging to both the mind and the body. The overly optimistic people usually ignore small problems and issues due to their general outlook on life. But these little problems grow in number and intensity as time passes, and become significant issues that may cause a high level of stress.

These people start ruminating excessively about why things did not go as they had planned. Their efforts to predict a future outcome that agrees with their manufactured positive worldview drives them nuts.

2. Late on Deadlines

Optimists assume that multiple events are going to be synchronized, and they become victims of the planning fallacy.

Predictions about how much time will be required to complete a future task display an optimism bias and the time needed is underestimated.

When multiple timelines of numerous characters and diverse factors are required before something can happen, predicting the outcome of an event is next to impossible.

An optimist will assume that the commute will take fifteen minutes to reach the destination, but it may take longer if there is a traffic jam. The optimist fails to reckon such practical problems. A pessimist starts the journey ten minutes ahead of time to take into account any untoward event and usually reaches early.

Roger Buehler and colleagues examined wishful thinking; optimists think tasks will be finished quickly and easily because that is what they want to be the case

3. Relationship issues and thinking others to be negative

The partners of the blinded optimist have to adjust their viewpoint to handle real-life challenges by facing them alone. The overly optimistic people disregard negative emotions. This kind of behavior does not allow optimists to have psychological flexibility. An inability to see other people’s genuine rational fears can create rifts that are hard to manage in very close relationships.

4. Weak friendships due to feelings of disillusionment

If the people around an optimist doubt the absolute positive vision, the optimist may feel disillusionment. Optimists generally like the company of other optimists due to what is called a shared illusion.

Whenever someone disagrees with an extremely tough goal, the optimist may think that his or her friend is a pessimist or does not share his or her goals and aspirations. Extreme optimists may often judge others to be lesser human beings for not being sure about the unpredictable outcomes of events.

5. Risky projects and spending more than available resources

Optimists are so sure that everything is going to turn out just fine that they don’t care if the budget is adhered to or not. The optimists may overestimate the future profits of a venture, and spending a bit or a lot more than the allocated budget makes perfect sense. Optimists also tend to be more charitable even at the expense of other people. It is against the principle of optimists to save something for a rainy day.

The optimists tend to overestimate benefits and underestimate costs, motivating them to take on financially risky projects.

Conclusion

Once you have diagnosed yourself as a hopeless optimist, you will have to rethink your future life strategy. The more time you have spent reading positive thinking of Norman Vincent Peale and Eric Fellman, the more you’ll have to reinvent your cognitive processes and develop an unlearning strategy.

John B. Arden Ph.D. in his book — Rewire Your Brain — says that you can change old thought patterns in your brain. Otherwise, your mind will keep yelling that the information given here is not correct.

Like all mental habits, replacing your extremely optimistic thought patterns can be quite a challenge, but it’s not impossible. With proper knowledge, you can instruct your brain to observe situations differently and bring down your optimism to a healthy level.

To resist optimism bias, practice a little pessimism. Lower your expectations. Suppose your plans will be more time-consuming, challenging, and costlier than your expectations. Do not believe your big plans to manifest only through positive thinking, without constant action. Be prepared to fight against your positive thoughts.