There is a big difference between ‘Pessimism’ and ‘Reverse Psychology’. I am someone who believes in the concept of Reverse Psychology and that is because it works for me most of the times.
When I say I won’t get through something, deep down I am very much confident I will. I don’t just say it. I try thinking bad and good happens. That doesn’t make me a negative person. That’s Reverse Psychology, it’s different from pessimism and it’s PERFECTLY NORMAL.
When I go for an exam, even if I am not fully prepared, I am fully confident. I am confident enough to do it better than my preparation. But when someone asks me how I did, I don’t want to be too optimistic and spoil it. I want people not to expect. I don’t like getting results under my expectations. So I don’t find it any wrong when I say I did just fine in an exam when I actually have done better than that.I superficially think it was just OK, knowing I did better.That’s reverse psychology and not pessimism. Pessimism would be strongly believing that I haven’t done well and maybe even won’t get through. There’s a difference.
Pessimism is a negative belief. Reverse psychology is a negative display over a positive belief.
A person wanting to succeed will obviously never want to think bad, but repeated failures make him do so. From here on, two things can happen- An approach of straight Optimism- Pessimism or a belief of being jinxed and rather going for “Thinking or speaking negative to make things happen in a positive manner”.
There is a set of people who, if reading this, might not get anything from the above lines. These are the downright optimistic ones.There is nothing wrong in having a positive, negative or reverse kind of thinking.If one can can carry it well, it’s good. If it’s harmful, one has to change it. If any psychology student ever comes across this article, I would sure like them to share their views.