Defensive Pessimism: What It Is, Characteristics, And Advantages And Disadvantages
When someone is going to face a complicated activity in the near future (for example, an opposition exam, a sports competition) or a situation that is compromising (for example, giving a public speech) they may have a optimistic vision or, on the contrary, from defensive pessimism.
When one has a vision of defensive pessimism about a future event, the person tends to think that something is going to go wrong when that feared moment arrives, so they could suffer anticipatory anxiety and have negative expectations about it.
In this article we will see in more detail what the concept of defensive pessimism consists of what the consequences of having a pessimistic vision usually are and also how it influences people’s self-esteem.
When we use the concept of defensive pessimism in the field of psychology we are referring to the mechanism of action used by people on those occasions when they intend to protect themselves from a certain future situation so that they put themselves in the worst scenario and thus, in the event that it comes true, or things do not turn out as well as they would like, the person feels that they had previously prepared themselves to assume that negative result.
There are people who face certain situations that they consider complicated or compromised in some way (for example, a sports competition, an exam, a job interview, etc.) from a defensive pessimism. to avoid being disappointed and disillusioned if everything did not go as desired so they start from the idea that things will not go well for them in a situation that requires a certain effort, so they commit less than necessary.
When a person uses the mechanism of being pessimistic about a future event to avoid disappointment, as we have said, they normally make less effort than they should to make things go well. Then the most likely thing is that his prediction that the situation he has to face will not turn out well will come true, so that what is usually called a negative self-fulfilling prophecy in psychology would be fulfilled. This fact can feed into his pessimism in the face of future similar situations.
It is common that a person who frequently hides behind defensive pessimism also use excuses to justify yourself for not trying hard or not having taken the necessary time for that feared situation to turn out well, because in your mind you could feel a kind of cognitive dissonance because what you do does not fit with the objectives that you had set for yourself some time ago.
Let’s give an example below to better understand what the concept of defensive pessimism consists of, and also the excuses that the person makes to break with that cognitive dissonance that has formed in their mind.
Let’s imagine the case of a student who is preparing for a very important exam , such as that of an opposition to obtain a position in a public position. When you begin to prepare it, the most normal thing is that you have an optimistic perspective and good intentions; However, as time goes by, defensive pessimism may emerge, so thoughts will arise in your mind that will tell you that it is very difficult for you to pass, that no one passes the exam the first time, and many more like that.
Then, it is likely that little by little he will try a little less each time, while his defensive pessimism will increase. So when you take the exam, if you do not get a place, you will feel that your pessimistic thoughts were true and, when a cognitive dissonance arises in your mind because deep down you know that you have not made the effort as you should have to get that place, you will look for any argument that justifies their drop in performance because it was very difficult, that it was not worth wasting time, etc.
Relationship between defensive pessimism and self-esteem
In most cases, defensive pessimism is often closely related to low levels of self-esteem
For this reason, people who choose to focus on the negative and pessimistic side of some future event have a tendency to put themselves down, which is why they go to the point of not facing a series of situations that require a certain degree of effort and courage for them. fear of ending up failing. This causes the person to be at a disadvantage compared to other more optimistic people.
Defensive pessimism and optimism
The opposite pole of having a vision from defensive pessimism in the face of an upcoming situation or objective would be to have an optimistic vision Although it should be noted that people are not usually completely at one extreme or the other and that these perspectives can change throughout life depending on the experiences lived and the effort that the person has been able to make.
Likewise, it can also happen that the same person has an optimistic vision in certain areas (for example, in sports) and a pessimistic one in others (for example, in the academic field).
Unlike pessimistic people, Optimists have a tendency to see things from a more global perspective , so that they always have in mind the virtues that they possess and that will allow them to achieve their objectives and they are also aware that they have certain limitations, and it may be the case that they do not achieve that goal towards which they are heading; However, they do not throw in the towel and try to focus only on what is the only thing they can control, their day-to-day actions.
For example, in a situation in which an optimistic person is preparing for an opposition exam, he will try not to lose sight of his objective and will try to maintain his positive vision because he is aware that he has possibilities, even knowing that there are also quite a few. chances of not getting a place. Nevertheless, He prefers to choose to think that he can get the job and that what can lead him to do so is to have an optimistic vision and focus on working day by day without stopping advancing in the agenda.
Both a completely optimistic vision and a vision from defensive pessimism in most cases could be harmful to people.
Excessive optimism could cause the person to be overconfident so that you feel very little pressure and make less effort than you should, so the results could be worse than expected, leading to great disappointment.
On the contrary, having a mostly pessimistic vision would cause low motivation in the face of any challenge that the person had to face in their life, so that they would not try hard enough and, therefore, the most common thing is that they would reach fail.
However, to its fair extent, although there is a lot of disparity around it, it is worth noting that there is research in this regard that found that a certain degree of defensive pessimism It can be a personal protection mechanism against suffering any disappointment and, by being previously prepared for possible future failure, the person can also get ahead in preparing to face failure and look for a way to get out of that situation.
Seen in this way, a defensive pessimist tends to be prepared for the worst outcome, and may even have experienced higher levels of anxiety prior to the event than when the failure they had imagined actually came to pass.
Likewise, a vision from defensive pessimism, by allowing the person to anticipate a possible failure, so that the tension that can be generated would cause the person to be alert at all times, would encourage you to use all kinds of strategies in order to avoid this possible failure and to come up with an alternative plan that you could opt for when things don’t go in a positive way. We could call this adaptive defensive pessimism.
