The book “Learned Optimism” (Martin Seligman, PhD at the forefront of the discovery of learned helplessness in the 60s-70s) explores the impact of explanatory s

The book “Learned Optimism” (Martin Seligman, PhD at the forefront of the discovery of learned helplessness in the 60s-70s) explores the impact of explanatory styles and how those styles are indicators that reliably predict depression/stuck-ness on the one side and resilience/achievement on the other. I think your instinct is right on, and highlights both sides of this effect: people like being around people who are optimistic. This has implications for both optimistic people and pessimistic people. Pessimism reinforces itself (No on wants to hang out with me, I’m unlovable), and optimism seems to have the opposite reinforcing effect. Cultivating qualities of optimism in yourself seems to be powerful because it not only changes your own outlook for the better, but actually leads to real world improvements in your relationships, which in turn gives you more reasons to feel optimistic. For most of my life, I spun my own default-to-pessimism as just part of my identity and occasionally useful in certain work settings. But I’ve recently come to realize where this pessimism came from (drilled into me during childhood), that it doesn’t need to be permanent, and can be replaced by better patterns of thought. Mix this with a bit of mindfulness/zen meditation, and the world looks like an entirely different (better) place.