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Realism As The Best Outlook In Life

Sumyukthaa Thillairajan

5412853

PSYC 4P20

Monday November 27th, 2017

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Introduction

There are many factors that affect the wellbeing of an individual including the attitude

that they have on life. There are three types of outlooks individuals generally partake in:

defensive pessimism, realism, or positive illusions. Defensive pessimism is the mindset that

helps individuals manage their anxiety by preparing themselves for the worst possible outcome

(Baumgardner & Crothers, 2009). Realism is the practice in which an individual perceives the

situation for what it truly is and engages with it appropriately, while using positive illusions

means having a more favourable, or optimistic perspective of the world than others

(Baumgardner & Crothers, 2009). Each of these outlooks on life has their benefits and

drawbacks in situations involving evolution, health and relationships. By critically analyzing the

benefits of realism in comparison to defensive pessimism and positive illusions, it will be evident

that this is the best outlook to have in life since it allows for personal-growth and has long-term

effects. This analysis will be presented through an initial counterargument on the benefits of

defensive pessimism and positive illusions. This will then be followed by a deeper argument of

their negative effects on evolution, health and relationships and justification about why a realistic

approach is more valuable.

Counterargument

Benefits of Defensive Pessimism

There are many ways in which using defensive pessimism can be beneficial from an

evolutionary perspective. When individuals are depressed, they find themselves evaluating

situations with a more narrow focus than their non-depressed counterparts. This type of focus

can be beneficial in situations where an analytic reasoning style is valued (Bortolotti &
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Antrobus, 2015). This can include situations as extreme as being chased by a bear or as simple as

completing a puzzle. Another evolutionary benefit is that depressed individuals are better than

their non-depressed equivalents at predicting self-related events (Bortolotti & Antrobus, 2015).

They also have a tendency to expect the worst in situations so that their self-esteem will be

protected if they fail, but will increase if they succeed (Baumgardner & Crothers, 2009). The

evolutionary benefit of being able to predict one’s long-term affairs is that these individuals can

plan their lives in accordance with their future capabilities and plan for the worst possible

outcome.

Benefits of Positive Illusions (Optimism)

By having an optimistic outlook on life, individuals often receive evolutionary, relational

and health benefits. With regards to evolutionary benefits, optimistic individuals were found to

make decisions that minimized cost and contributed to survival in instances of risk ambiguity

(Bortolotti & Antrobus, 2015). Their decisions also contributed to their level of flourishing,

which according to Keyes is a state of complete mental health (Baumgardner & Crothers, 2009).

Positive illusions can also be beneficial for relationships according to the love-is-blind

bias. This bias states that optimistic individuals are seen to be more satisfied in their long-lasting

relationships than their non-optimistic counterparts (Bortolotti & Antrobus, 2015). These

individuals usually view their partners as more competent, attractive and talented than they

actually are. By idealizing their partners, optimists actually deploy a self-fulfilling effect on

them, making it so that their partners actually begin to pursue the expectations of the optimist

(Murray, Holmes, & Griffin, 1996). A form of optimism that can be beneficial for non-romantic

relationships is self-enhancement. This term is defined as the overestimation of one’s self-rating

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in comparison to that of an observer’s rating (Neckar, 2013). Researchers have found that self-

enhancement is correlated with the ability to form meaningful relationships and cooperate, which

are both adaptive values in interpersonal relationships (Neckar, 2013).

Having an optimistic view about one’s health can be beneficial for individuals with

various health concerns. During difficult situations involving chronic illness or trauma, positive

illusions can help promote coping while minimizing costs (Neckar, 2013). These positive

evaluations can be as simple as telling yourself that you are not as sick as your reports indicate.

By attributing one’s subjective health beliefs to their physical health, their behaviours will soon

come to match their positive attitude, motivating them to continue acting like they did before

they became sick. This is why individuals that engage in positive illusion are more likely to

involve themselves in healthy behaviours like exercise, as they feel in control of their health

more so than pessimists (Ruthig, Hanson, Pedersen, Weber, & Chipperfield, 2011). Health

optimism is especially beneficial for older adults with poor health, since it is harder for these

individuals to recover from their illness than their younger counterparts (Ruthig et al., 2011).

Luckily the positive illusions that these individuals have allows them to have better

psychological health and positive functioning in comparison to those who are more realistic

about their poor health (Ruthig et al., 2011). They do this by decreasing the level of worry they

engage in, which results in immediate health benefits (Bortolotti & Antrobus, 2015).

Argument

Even though using defensive pessimism and optimism have beneficial effects, there are

far more negative effects of using these types of outlooks on life. By analyzing the downfall of
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these views, it will be evident that having a realistic perspective is the most adaptive and

rewarding in the long-term.

Evolution

Even though defensive pessimism has a few evolutionary benefits regarding survival and

kinship, there are many ways in which it is also detrimental to evolution. For one, defensive

pessimism is not a good predictor of future non-self-related situations. Researchers suggest that

this is due to the fact that there is only a positive correlation between depression and sensitivity

to social threats, without the presence of a constant negative bias (Bortolotti & Antrobus, 2015).

Since they do not have a general negative bias, they are only able to effectively predict the

outcome of a situation when the social threat is present, limiting the extent to which they can

predict future events. Someone who is more realistic may use heuristics to predict the likelihood

of a certain outcome for self-related and non-self-related situations. Since they are using past

knowledge of events, it is more likely that their overall predictions will be true and will not be

overly negative or positive.

Another threat to evolution is that even though it may seem like depressed individuals are

more accurate in their judgements, they are actually using inappropriate heuristics to come to

their conclusions (Carson, Hollon, & Shelton, 2010). This concept pertains to the rule-based

perspective that suggests that both the judgement and the reasoning behind that judgement

should be examined (Carson et al., 2010). From an evolutionary perspective, the accuracy of

information processing is essential to progress effectively through life, but is something a

depressed individual may not be capable of. This is why someone who has a more realistic point

of view would have an easier time processing information and heuristics accurately.
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Along with defensive pessimism, there are also many reasons why using positive

illusions are not beneficial to evolution. First, according to the better-than-average effect, people

who are overly optimistic tend to show distorted thinking about their sense of control in self-

related events (Bortolotti & Antrobus, 2015). This causes these individuals to develop

maladaptive coping mechanisms for their perceived situation, which may not actually be

effective for the situation in question (Neckar, 2013). Effective coping strategies like problem-

focused coping would not be done, even though they result in high levels of positive affect

(Baumgardner & Crothers, 2009). When someone is realistic, it is more likely that they will

understand the threat level of their situation, and cope using a problem-focused approach instead

of simply avoiding the issue like most optimists would.

Another point to consider is the negative effect of positive illusions on personal growth

(Yang, Chuang, & Chiou, 2009). This may be due to the fact that these individuals are not able to

grow and learn from challenges in their lives, since they choose to supress these issues rather

than face them. According to Ryff’s model of wellbeing, personal growth is a key factor for

resilience in adulthood (Baumgardner & Crothers, 2009). This means that even if the effects of

using positive illusions are useful for a short period of time, they become maladaptive as time

progresses, since they prevent characteristics like resilience from developing (Yang et al., 2009).

There will also be a point in their lives where they have to face the reality that they are far less

competent than they perceived (Yang et al., 2009). These revelations can be highly devastating

to the individual and can leave permanent damage on their self-esteem. In this situation, having

a realistic attitude would help one recognize and work on factors about themselves that they are

not pleased with. By using a problem-focused coping method, these negative attributes have the
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possibility to become more positive as time progresses and may even contribute to one’s

resilience.

Finally, another reason why positive illusions can be evolutionarily maladaptive is that it

is a way for individuals with low achievement to feel more competent when their self-worth is

being threatened (Yang et al., 2009). When it comes to performance tasks, those without an

optimistic self-estimate performed better than those who did use positive illusions when

assessing their own capabilities (Yang et al., 2009). So even if optimistic individuals believe they

are going to do better on a task than their non-optimistic counterpart, it is always better to assess

your abilities realistically in order to constructively improve your level of success for the future.

Health

When it comes to mental and physical health concerns, defensive pessimism is damaging

to the wellbeing of the individual. Even for those with good overall health, having health

pessimism is maladaptive (Ruthig et al., 2011). Individuals tend to ruminate on issues that are

not realistic and have these thoughts contribute to their negativity (Ruthig et al., 2011). If

someone has a realistic outlook on life, they would realize that there is no real threat to their

health, but still recognizes that they are also not immune to illness. Due to this, they would

continue taking care of their body without taking any major risks that could harm their mental or

physical health.

Another reason why defensive pessimism does not coincide with mental health is because

of its incompatible beliefs with cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). The theory behind

defensive pessimism suggests that individuals who are depressed have started perceiving the

world for what it truly is without any distortions. If this were true, CBT would not be as effective
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in treating depression, since it is a process in which patients are encouraged to dismiss their

distorted worldviews that are causing the manifestation of their negative beliefs. Seeing that CBT

is one of the most widely used forms of therapy to treat depression, there is a valid assumption

that depressed individuals do in fact distort their perception of reality in a negative way and that

doing this can be detrimental to their view of the world (Carson et al., 2010).

Even though positive illusions about one’s health have immediate benefits on

psychological wellbeing, there may be consequences that these individuals must endure long-

term. When it comes to evaluating one’s health, having an overly optimistic outlook may

actually be a defence mechanism due to lack of social support (Ruthig et al., 2011). Regarding

individuals with poor health, researchers found a greater correlation between perceived social

support and realism, than with optimism, suggesting that this theory is valid (Ruthig et al., 2011).

Individuals that use positive illusions may actually be pushing themselves to feel better adjusted

than they actually are in order to show that they can manage themselves without the help of

others. Although according to the buffering hypothesis, it is known that the presence of social

support can be used to decrease the hindering effects of stress (Baumgardner & Crothers, 2009).

Seeing that realism is positively correlated with perceived social support, it is likely that these

individuals have a close social group with whom they can share their burdens. This helps them

relieve their stress unlike optimists who would just suppress these burdens and let their stress

manifest (Baumgardner & Crothers, 2009).

Another issue with using positive illusions is that they make the individual underestimate

the effects of their health concerns, so they may fail to engage in precautionary measures to

better their overall health (Bortolotti & Antrobus, 2015). Due to these reasons, a more realistic

attitude is beneficial when intervening with chronic degenerative circumstances. Even though
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realism may be hard on an individual’s wellbeing at first, using this perspective would help them

create problem-based coping strategies and active goals that would benefit their health.

Relationships

Having pessimistic tendencies can severely hinder one’s interpersonal relationships.

When an individual does nothing but complain, worry and have a negative view of the world,

friends and family members may get tired of constantly trying to support them (Baumgardner &

Crothers, 2009). Even when the outcomes of a situation are positive, pessimistic individuals will

find some way to criticize the outcomes. This creates a cycle of anxiety and rumination that

keeps the individual from recognizing their strengths separately from their weaknesses, which in

turn prevents personal growth. Someone who is more realistic is able to recognize and work on

their weaknesses rather than always having a large mental strain. By overcoming these issues is

how these individuals achieve personal growth.

According to the love-is-blind bias and factors of self-enhancement, using positive

illusions in relationships has its share of downfalls. The love-is-blind bias is positively associated

with anxious jealousy, which can easily lead to other negative feelings such as hostility toward

one’s partner (Bortolotti & Antrobus, 2015). Also if someone is overly optimistic about their

relationship they may constantly face feelings of disappointment when their partner does not

meet their unrealistic expectations (Bortolotti & Antrobus, 2015). By having a more realistic

outlook on relationships, one would understand that there are always going to be disagreements

in the relationships and that their partner may not always be as perfect as they want them to be.

By being realistic about these issues, the couple could collectively work on these concerns
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instead of simply ignoring them and letting them manifest into a larger more uncontrollable

situation.

Even though self-enhancement tendencies have an initial benefit in the beginning of a

relationship, their detrimental effects take over as time goes on. Peers reported having a

decreased liking for self-enhancing individuals throughout their four years of college,

demonstrating that any positive effects of self-enhancement on relationships are short-lived

(Neckar, 2013). They were often described, as being narcissistic, poorly adjusted, hostile and

defensive by observers soon after their initial interaction (Yang et al., 2009). Someone who is

more realistic about their positive qualities would not come off as narcissistic as an optimist

since they are able to recognize their faults and are not so defensive when they receive

constructive criticism. Having these qualities makes realists more approachable and likeable than

individuals that use positive illusions. Researchers also found that self-enhancing tendencies are

correlated with ineffective planning which disrupts with the success of long-term goals, like

graduating. Individuals who are more realistic and critical about their competence work in favour

of their long-term goals. Without assuming that they will get into post-graduate studies, they will

acknowledge that they need good grades and an adequate study habit to succeed.

Conclusion

After analyzing the effects of defensive pessimism, realism, and positive illusions, its

evident that realism is the most beneficial outlook on life that one can have. It is beneficial in

various scenarios regarding evolution, health and relationships. Not only are the benefits of

realism long-term, but they also allow for person growth, which is a main contributing factor to

wellbeing.
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References

Baumgardner, S. R., & Crothers, M. K. (2009). Positive Psychology. Published by Prentice

Hall.

Bortolotti, L., & Antrobus, M. (2015). Costs and benefits of realism and optimism. Current
Opinion In Psychiatry, 28(2), 194-198. doi:10.1097/YCO.0000000000000143

Carson, R. C., Hollon, S. D., & Shelton, R. C. (2010). Depressive realism and clinical
depression. Behaviour Research And Therapy, 48, 257-265.
doi:10.1016/j.brat.2009.11.011

Murray, S., Holmes, J., & Griffin, D. W. (1996). The self-fulfilling nature of positive illusions in
romantic relationships: Love is not blind, but prescient. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 71(6), 1155-1180.

Neckar, J. (2013). Self-enhancement and coping: the costs and benefits of positive illusions.
Studia Psychologica: Journal For Basic Research In Psychological Sciences, 55(4), 299-
310.

Ruthig, J. C., Hanson, B. L., Pedersen, H., Weber, A., & Chipperfield, J. G. (2011). Later life
health optimism, pessimism and realism: Psychosocial contributors and health correlates.
Psychology & Health, 26(7), 835-853.

Yang, M., Chuang, H., & Chiou, W. (2009). Long-Term Costs of Inflated Self-Estimate on
Academic Performance Among Adolescent Students: a Case of Second-Language
Achievements. Psychological Reports, 105(3), 727-737. doi:10.2466/pr0.105.3.727-737