If you read any Emotional Intelligence self-help books, you'll find a definition of optimism/pessimism that's similar to what OP is talking about. The lay defi

If you read any Emotional Intelligence self-help books, you'll find a definition of optimism/pessimism that's similar to what OP is talking about. The lay definition of optimism is thinking things are great, Emotional Intelligence defines it as "rolling with the punches" when things get bad, and most importantly avoiding vicious emotional cycles where a small problem can spiral into an entire day ruined. A lot of so-called "optimists" are actually pessimists that are in denial about bad things because they're unable to emotional handle them. I think that's a good lens at which to look at it, because it doesn't matter whether you think a situation is "good" or "bad", what matters is how you deal with it. OP's "pragmatic pessimism" is actually optimism by this definition, and I agree with OP that it's overall a positive trait—Although it does require maintaining some social cognizance, because many people do not particularly like a tendency to proactively identify problems.