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Kathryn Hoban

Legislative Aide - Michigan Senate, National Society of Collegiate Scholars

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Optimism and Pessimism: The Impact of Outlook on Outcome

Do you consider yourself an optimist or a pessimist?
What do you think are the drawbacks and benefits of each?
To what extent do you think your outlook impacts your actions?
Tali Sharot talks about the blame that optimists and pessimists place on either themselves or other factors. To what extent do you blame internal or external factors regarding your success or failure?

Related Talks:
Topics: Behavioral psychology Cognitive philosophy Optimism Pessimism cognitive psychology philosophy
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    Ramesh S

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    May 16 2012: Obviously everyone says optimistic.

    But the fact is no. WHen you advise to someone, u will be optimistic. But when you are the hearing end, you will defnly feel pessimistic.
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      Kathryn Hoban

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      May 17 2012: Thank you, Ramesh. I think that differentiating between when an optimist or pessimist is speaking and listening is important. There could be discrepancies between their words and actions. That would be a fun study to do. Thanks again!

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