As the study authors write, “Individuals with elevated negative emotionality, a personality trait linked to the development of anxiety disorders, displayed a global pessimism and learning differences that impeded accurate expectations and predicted future anxiety symptoms.” In other words, even when pessimists did better than they expected on their tests, they didn’t move forward with an updated perspective that their good grades could be replicated. Meanwhile, optimists did raise expectations of their grades based on their performance. Then, when surveyed three years later, it was the pessimists who showed greater signs of anxiety. The study authors note this pessimism could be a coping mechanism to avoid disappointment, which is also a symptom of anxiety. “We hypothesize that a conditioned aversion to negative and unpredictable events would lead a person to develop a pessimistic and inaccurate model of the world, which may predict risk for anxiety,” the study authors add. For one thing, considering the study authors suspect it could be a fear or avoidance of disappointment driving pessimism, learning to practice radical acceptance could be a good place to start. As therapist Megan Bruneau, M.A., previously wrote for mbg, “Acceptance can be practiced in all areas of your life […] This doesn’t mean you necessarily endorse whatever it is that you’re accepting in these realms; rather, you recognize that you can’t change the current nature of this exact moment, and accepting manages anxiety and helps calm.” And when things do go awry, it’s important to be able to bounce back. To that end, here’s our full guide on how to rebound when things go wrong. As you learn to be less pessimistic, that doesn’t mean you won’t still feel moments of anxiety and stress, and that’s when you’ll want to lean on stress-busting practices like meditation, yoga, and spending time in nature. It could also be worthwhile to try out a quality supplement for stress as you learn how to manage your anxious feelings.
