Happy "for" Your Life: Optimism
Happiness Encyclopedia IX from the Happiness PhD Project...
Psychologists are studying three groups of rats.
In Part 1 of this study, three groups are placed in cages. Group 1 rats were simply put in a cage for a period of time and were later released. Groups 2 and 3 consisted of “pairs.” Rats in Group 2 were given electric shocks at random times, which they could end by pressing a lever. Each rat in Group 3 was paired with a Group 2 rat; whenever a Group 2 rat got a shock, its paired rat in Group 3 got a shock of the same intensity and duration, but their levers did not stop the shock. To a rat in Group 3, it seemed that the shock ended at random because it was their paired rat in Group 2 that was causing it to stop.
Thus, for Group 3 rats, the shock was “inescapable.”
In Part 2 of the experiment, the same three groups were tested in a chamber containing two rectangular compartments divided by a barrier a few inches high. All of the rats could escape shocks on one side of the box by jumping over to the other side. The rats in Groups 1 and 2 quickly learned this and jumped over to escape the shock.
Most of the Group 3 rats, which had previously learned that nothing they did had any effect on shocks, simply lay down passively and whimpered as they were shocked.
This, as you can probably guess, is based on a true story. It summarizes work by Seligman and Overmier to develop their theory of “learned helplessness.” When we feel we will suffer inescapably or cannot influence our life circumstances, we learn to withdraw and give up. This is now a common model for understanding disorders like depression.
Conversely, Seligman went on to develop a theory of “learned optimism.” In the same way we can learn helplessness, we can learn optimism. In a sense, optimism is happiness about the future – a positive outlook. It’s a belief that life will be good and that you can make it so.
How do you do this?
Seligman and his peers in psychology have found that outlook is really about what’s called your explanatory style. As the name suggests, explanatory style is about how you explain the things that happen to you. It is in large part what distinguishes pessimists (negative mindset) from optimists (positive mindset).
The key lies in learning to shape your explanatory style through “the three Ps”:
Pervasive
Permanent
Personal
Imagine something bad happens – say, you’re late to an important meeting.
Pervasive – This refers to how broadly you apply the failure. A pessimistic mindset makes it about more than just the one incident. “I’m late for this meeting... I can’t do anything right. I’m a terrible parent. I’m unreliable. I suck at work. I can’t stay healthy. I don’t even like how I look.” What just happened there? You took one failure and let it bleed into every area of your life.
Permanent – This is when you view the failure as lasting. “I’m always late. I’ll never be on time. I don’t have what it takes to do this job.” Instead of seeing the failure as a one-off, you see it as everlasting.
Personal – This is when you blame yourself entirely. “I’m such an idiot. This is all my fault. I can’t do anything right.” Taking personal responsibility is important, but this is more like “taking it personal.” In reality, there are often external and even random factors that contribute to a negative event. Maybe you spilled coffee and had to change, maybe there was an accident on the highway, maybe your calendar malfunctioned.
People with negative explanatory styles tend to explain setbacks as pervasive, permanent, and personal: “I’m no good at anything, I have so much bad luck, it’ll always be that way, and it’s all my fault.”
Optimists explain events differently.
Let’s say an optimistic salesperson loses a deal. Instead of spiraling into negativity, they may say:
Not Pervasive – “Okay, I missed this one. But that doesn’t mean I’m failing at everything. I’m still a great parent, a good friend, and have success in other parts of the business.”
Not Permanent – “I didn’t win this one, but I can learn from it. I’ll do better next time.”
Not Personal – “There are things I could have done better, but the client did have someone else in mind, and their budget was an issue. They rejected the product; they didn’t reject me.”
Learned optimism comes from awareness of your explanatory style and intentionality in avoiding the three Ps when processing negative experiences. But that’s not all. While you avoid the three Ps for negative events, you lean into them for good ones.
Pessimists do the opposite. When something good happens, they dismiss it: “It was just luck. It’s a one-time thing. It won’t last. I didn’t really earn it.”
But a more optimistic person would say:
Pervasive – “I succeeded here, so I can succeed in other areas too. I have what it takes to be good at just about anything if I apply myself.”
Permanent – “This good thing isn’t a fluke, it’s a trend. I can do this again.”
Personal – “I made this happen. I showed up, I worked hard, and I nailed it.”
Let’s say a high school student makes the baseball team. Look at a negative versus positive explanatory style – note the three Ps as you read.
Negative explanatory style of a positive event: “Well, I kind of got lucky here. I’m not sure if I deserve it. Well, I might have made the team, but I still suck at math and science and don’t have my license yet. I’m probably not going to make it next year after the coach sees me play.”
Positive explanatory style of a positive event: “I earned this spot, and I deserve it. I know if I dedicate myself this same way, I can succeed at everything else I have going on right now. I’m going to build on this and earn a starting spot.”
You can learn optimism by changing your explanatory style.
When bad things happen, process them by limiting the 3 Ps:
It’s not pervasive (it doesn’t define all of me),
It’s not permanent (it won’t last forever),
It’s not personal (I’m not solely to blame).
And when good things happen, lean into the 3 Ps:
Let it be pervasive (I can succeed in other areas too),
Let it be permanent (I can keep this up),
Make it personal (I earned this).
That’s how you shift your mindset to be more hopeful, more resilient, and more optimistic. Ultimately, this will help you to be happier when you think about the future.
