Pessimistic personality: what 6 traits characterize it?

The pessimism of some people makes them capable of helping to create a less negative future.

The different personality types displayed by our species show the extent to which every human being is different. However, not all of these variants of ways of thinking and acting are equally recognized. For example, in Western countries, extraversion is more highly valued than introversion.

But if there is one way of being that receives negative evaluations, it is the pessimistic personality, which is often wrongly associated with sadness..

What is the pessimistic personality?

The pessimistic personality is a way of thinking and behaving characterized by the fact that the person judges it in the worst possible way, in the sense that he/she makes negative interpretations of what is happening and what will happen..

In other words, people with a pessimistic personality believe that they live in the worst possible world, or almost.

Pessimism and sadness

It is true that the pessimistic personality is linked to sadness, but not all individuals who think this way feel some kind of emotional Pain or depressive symptoms.

On the one hand, interpreting reality in a pessimistic way can make one lose hope of improving the situation and this produces sadness, uneasiness and can even go hand in hand with learned helplessness, in which the person stops fighting and striving for progress.

Moreover, not all types of pessimism are not all types of pessimism are the sameand some of its forms leave an open door to hope. For example, it is possible to believe that everything is going much worse than what the rest of humanity believes when injustices or oppressive situations are given importance, but it is also possible to believe that keeping in mind those problems that the majority ignores is a way to start building a better future and that, otherwise, they would continue to exist.

The characteristics of pessimistic people

The pessimistic personality is supported by a number of defining characteristics:

1. The search for truth

People with this personality form prefer to accept unpleasant and uncomfortable truths to embrace comforting beliefs that do not faithfully explain reality.

However, this does not mean that they are better at understanding what is going on; they simply believe that many of the popular and widespread beliefs in the population are based on convenient falsehoods.

2. They focus their attention on the bad

In the pessimistic personality that which causes pain or discomfort is emphasized, since it is assumed that everything that works properly is within what is to be expected and, therefore, does not attract attention.In the pessimistic personality, everything that works correctly is assumed to be within what could be expected and, therefore, does not attract attention. Thus, pessimism can be an element that predisposes to social denunciation and to call attention to problems that go unnoticed or are normalized.

3. They maintain low expectations

Pessimism also acts as a shield against frustration. Since this type of person expects few good things from the future, they do not take it for granted that things will get better automatically or without making sacrifices.

That is why it is more rare for them to be disappointed.This means that accidents or unexpected problems usually do not produce a great emotional disturbance in them (in comparison to what happens with other people).

4. More resilient to grief

The processes of loss, defined as mourning processes (and which do not only include cases in which death is present), are experienced differently by people with a pessimistic personality. As they have been anticipating for a long time most of the bad things that happen to them, the effect of these is dampened. In a way, a greater emotional stability is shown..

5. It does not have to be pathological

The pessimistic personality is not a mental disorder, it is simply a psychological pattern far from what characterizes most people, who are neither particularly pessimistic nor optimistic.It is simply a psychological pattern far removed from what characterizes most people, who are neither particularly pessimistic nor optimistic.

However, certain pathologies do go hand in hand with the pessimistic way of thinking, such as depressive disorders when they are manifested through their symptoms.

6. It can become hidden

Pessimism is not well valued socially, and This causes some people to hide it so that their relationships are not damaged. This, in turn, can be a problem, since behaving in an unnatural way for a long time is stressful, as you always keep your guard up so that what you think is not revealed.

One more form of personality

In short, the pessimistic personality is neither pathological nor does it have to be equivalent to living in a constant state of sadness. In some cases it may include certain predictions of hopeful situations and in other cases it may not. and in other cases not, but in any case there are also some positive characteristics that are characteristic of this way of being.

Among them is the honesty that is maintained with oneself and the emotional stability that it offers in the face of certain processes of grief, as well as the constructive spirit and propensity to vindication to which it is associated in many cases.

That is why, although it may sound paradoxical, the pessimistic personality, characterized by interpreting almost everything in the worst possible way, can serve to build a better future in which optimism gains ground and conditions of well-being are enjoyed by more people. That is why this type of personality encloses within itself its own denial and is capable of contributing to society.