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The differences between an optimist and a pessimist are well established facts in psychology.
Pessimism is associated with a lot of things, e.g. depression, low self-esteem, low self-efficacy and even accident-proneness. It's hard to change a pessimist into an optimist, because their negative way of thinking is deeply rooted in their brains.
The way people learn is also well established in psychology. When you want to learn something, you have to practice the desired behavior, information, skill. You usually practice by rehearsing it over and over again. When you do that, you establish new neural connections in your brain. So when you use a connection frequently, it gets stronger and stronger. It's like when a lot of people use the same short-cut over a lawn, a path becomes visible. The more often it is used, the more visible it gets. The brain works in a similar way. So in order to grow strong connections you have to rehearse.
It's also a fact that there's competition in the brain. Stronger connections win the competition over weaker connections. When a connection isn't used anymore, it turns into 'wilderness'. Grass grows over the path at the lawn.
So let's combine these two things: rehearsing positive thoughts over and over again and a pessimist will become more and more optimistic, less depressive and so on. This is a form of RET (Rational Emotive Therapy), founded by Ellis. Like I said earlier, every problem has it's geeky solution. If you have to rehearse positive statements in the 21st century and you own an iPod, why not put those statements, or affirmations on your iPod and shuffle them with your favorite music?
A positive psychologist (and perhaps a geeky positive psychologist) has done this. Go over to ipop-in.com to find out. These ipop-ins are also available in the iTunes Store.
Posted under Psychology
This post was written by Inge on June 5, 2007
Hi Inge,
I think that sums me up nicely. I am glad you like the ipopins. Thanks for the link love.
Great post! I love the label - geeky positive psychologist!
Great description about the neural descriptions and rehearsal. I noticed from you bio that you are studying psychology - what are your career plans?
Hi Kirsten
My career plan is becoming a researcher in the field of cognitive psychology / ergonomics / human engineering. I want to combine my “inner geek” with my work, so I’d like to do something with neural networks, computers and psychology.
So after my Bachelor’s Degree (B Sc.) in Psychology I want to study Applied Cognitive Psychology (M Sc.) and after that I hope to get a PhD in that field.
I also mailed the link to one of my teachers (applied social psychologist) who researches BID (Body Image Dissatisfaction). I think the ipop-ins are a great way to help people who, for instance, have a negative body image.
Hi Inge,
I think that combo sounds like a great path!
How cool! It sounds like you are well on your way to your career - knowing what you want to do is half the battle.
Thanks for sharing the ipopin.com link… we appreciate folks spreading the word.
It has been nice connecting with someone in the field. Let’s stay in touch…
I love the idea of shuffling these into my iPod. I think I will try it. I’m not a big fan of affirmations, but I’m not entirely closed to the idea.