What Can Positive Psychology And Optimism Teach Us About Happiness?

An optimistic attitude is closely linked to a higher quality of life, and the burgeoning field of positive psychology specializes in identifying and analyzing the distinctions between optimists and pessimists that seem to make this so. The insights produced by this empower people to cultivate greater levels of happiness in their daily lives, largely by introducing them to optimism and positive thinking.

What are positive psychology and optimism?

Positive psychology has been called the “science of what makes people thrive.” It is a relatively novel branch of psychology coined in 1998 by Dr. Martin E.P. Seligman, an American psychologist and former president of the American Psychology Association.

Positive psychology brought about several notable changes in the field of psychology. It challenged the traditional paradigm, which focused primarily on pathology and dysfunction. While this approach remains a significant part of the discipline, positive psychology broadened the scope of psychology to include positive emotions, strengths, and virtues and shifted focus to factors that contribute to human flourishing.

Centered around positivity, this model considers that people want more than an end to life’s challenges; they want to live a meaningful and fulfilling life, grow their best selves, and enhance their lived experiences. Some goals of this field of psychology include enabling families to thrive, fostering satisfaction in the workplace, encouraging engagement in civic communities, and giving individuals tools to combat negative thoughts. 

Optimism is a frequent feature of this positivity-based approach to psychology. An optimist anticipates positive outcomes due to luck or their own effort. Conversely, a pessimist, the opposite of an optimist, tends to anticipate negative outcomes and perceive situations as fixed or unchangeable. 

Positive psychology is interested in the intersection between optimism, happiness, and overall well-being. While it is possible to be overly optimistic, optimists will likely experience more positive outcomes than pessimists. For this reason, many researchers believe that understanding how to build an optimistic outlook is an important tool for success. 

Why optimism matters

Optimism has strong associations with several mental health benefits. Research suggests that an optimistic attitude can act as a protective measure against depression and other mental health conditions. 

Positive emotions and an optimistic outlook are also helpful when completing goals or overcoming challenges. Those with high levels of optimism tend to be more willing to tackle tough problems head-on using a proactive problem-solving approach.

An optimistic attitude has physical health benefits, as well. For those diagnosed with a significant medical condition, an optimistic attitude may result in significantly lower levels of depressive symptoms, closer adherence to health regimens, and more proactive coping strategies. Additionally, optimism is associated with a lower risk of mortality, especially among those with heart conditions.

The psychology of optimism

Current research suggests that the most significant differences between pessimists and optimists pertain to what a person pays attention to, how they assign attributions, and their sense of control over their lives.

Attention

Optimists tend to pay greater attention to what aligns with their positive attitude. Noticing positivity in the environment often confirms and reinforces their optimistic viewpoint, while seeing negativity may harm their optimism. The “glass half full” metaphor is an excellent illustration of this positivity bias.

Imagine a literal half-full glass of water. An optimist notices the glass and considers the presence of water to be positive, but a pessimist is likely to take the fact that it is only half full as a negative thing because it is not entirely full. In doing so, the pessimist confirms their negative outlook. Even though both the optimist and the pessimist saw the same glass, the optimist skewed the same fact positively, and the pessimist negatively.

Attributional style

People's attributional styles often describe how they frame the outcomes of success and failure in their minds. Optimistic people tend to attribute successes to factors within their control and failures to external factors beyond their control.

For example, consider a person going through a breakup with a romantic partner. If they are pessimistic, they may attribute the ending of the relationship to internal, uncontrollable factors, which may constitute subjective opinions and negative self-talk. For example, they might say something like, "My relationship ended because I am fundamentally unlovable."

On the other hand, an optimistic person might say something like, "I am sad the relationship ended, but I tried my best. We were incompatible, but that does not necessarily mean there is a problem with me."

Locus of control

Optimists typically believe that they have personal agency and the ability to change things. The locus of control (LOC), a core concept of psychology, refers to individuals’ confidence in their ability to influence and control the events and outcomes in their lives.

A person's LOC can be either internal or external. Those with an external LOC often see control as "external" to them; they may feel helpless and have a hard time believing that their effort can improve their lives.

Conversely, those with an internal LOC usually believe their efforts can lead to meaningful change. They tend to believe that, even if they do not have solutions to a problem now, they will likely find solutions in the future. An internal LOC is strongly associated with optimism and a sense of self-efficacy.

The learned helplessness model

Modern research has confirmed that humans can learn to believe that they are helpless by identifying the complex neurological mechanisms responsible for the process. Learned helplessness is thought to be strongly correlated with depression, and researchers believe that restoring a sense of control (i.e., an internal LOC) is vital for combatting learned helplessness. Scientific evidence suggests conscious effort can help a person unlearn their helplessness, a concept known as learned optimism.

Explanatory styles

The term “explanatory style” emerged as researchers revised and improved the learned helplessness model. In the original model, researchers focused on specific individual behaviors. The expanded model is more general than the original, offering a theoretical structure of how a person might explain the causes of uncontrollable events in their lives.

Explanatory styles can be either optimistic or pessimistic and comprise three domains: personalization, permanence, and pervasiveness, often called the “three Ps.”

Personalization

Personalization refers to one’s locus of control. It can be internal or external, and it applies to positive and negative events. People with pessimistic explanatory styles tend to see negative outcomes as caused by something within themselves, while positive events are attributable to external factors. For optimists, the reverse is true.

Permanence

Permanence can be either stable or unstable. A person with stable attributions tends to believe that an outcome will persist indefinitely, while unstable attributions result in the belief that change is likely to occur. 

Optimists usually have stable attributions regarding positive outcomes and unstable attributions about negative ones. Conversely, pessimists tend to see negative outcomes as unchanging and positive ones as fleeting.

Pervasiveness

Pervasiveness can be either global or specific. A global attribution occurs when a person believes that outcomes are caused by consistent factors. In contrast, specific attributions occur when a person believes an outcome was caused by factors specific to a particular context or setting.

For example, a pessimistic person might have a global attribution surrounding luck. If they believe they are naturally unlucky, they will likely put less effort into improving their circumstances. If they believe they are naturally lucky, they are more likely to think that adverse events were caused by factors specific to the event itself.

Someone with an optimistic attribution style tends to attribute positive outcomes to their actions. They also may believe that positive outcomes will persist and that they will consistently achieve positive outcomes. Attaining an optimistic outlook is strongly correlated with an increase in overall well-being, and scientific research reinforces the importance of positivity and optimism.

External support

Online therapy through service providers like BetterHelp may help you become more optimistic by guiding you away from learned helplessness and toward stronger self-efficacy. Online therapists typically use the same evidence-based techniques as traditional therapists who administer counseling face-to-face in an office setting.

Therapists and other mental health professionals can often help you with any part of developing optimism, including helping you improve self-esteem, grow confidence, or build resiliency. They may also help address automatic negative thoughts and other challenges associated with building optimism.

Attending sessions online may remove many barriers commonly associated with therapy, such as traveling to an office or being restricted only to therapists who have offices nearby. Although therapy is conducted remotely, research indicates it is just as effective as in-person therapy.