Optimism – reacting to setbacks from a presumption of
personal power
Bad
events are temporary setbacks
Isolated
to particular circumstances
Can
be overcome by my effort and abilities
Pessimism - reacting
to setbacks from a presumption of personal helplessness:
Bad
events will last a long time
Will
undermine everything I do
Optimism psychology is in the field of cognitive science.
It is not magic. But, the
event-explanations of optimism can be practiced and learned, even by those who
have not consistently used them previously.
Inoculates
against depression
Combines
with talent and desire to enable achievement
Women suffer from depression more than men by a ratio of
two to one, even though, as children, boys are
more pessimistic than girls and more depressed.
Dr. Seligman suggest that the greater tendency of women to think about
how they feel ("ruminating") may account for this sex difference in
depression.
clipped from: www.shearonforschools.com