Is your glass…
A. Half-full?
B. Half empty--but what will you do when it IS empty?
C. Empty? You just knocked it over.

Are you tired of always being told to "look on the bright side"? Are you criticized for imagining worst case scenarios? Do you wish all of your optimistic friends would just leave you alone and let you be negative?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may be one of the millions of people who have learned to cope with the pressures of modern life by using Defensive Pessimism, a strategy of imagining the worst-case scenario of any situation. What if the train is running late, and you won’t make it to your job interview on time? What if you don’t know anyone at a party you’ll be attending? What if you don’t know any of the questions on your final exam? Dr. Norem shows how indulging in negative thoughts like these actually helps people go on to do their best by preparing for the worst. In fact, Dr. Norem has found that many people perform more poorly when forced to think positive, since negative thinking is often an effective strategy for managing anxiety.

In this much needed book, Dr. Norem tells the stories of people have harnessed the power of their negative thinking to increase their self-esteem and make significant progress toward their personal goals. At the same time, she shows how this strategy of Defensive Pessimism differs from the standard optimistic approach--and how friends, husbands and wives and coworkers with different approaches can understand one another and work together. Whether you are a die-hard pessimist, an eternal optimist or some combination of the two, Dr. Norem will show you how you can use your outlook to achieve success--and discover how to make your worries work for you.

About the Author
Julie K. Norem, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Psychology at Wellesley College. She has published many articles on personality and social behavior in psychology journals. Her work on defensive pessimism has been cited in the New York Times, SELF, the Washington Post, Men’s Health, McCall’s, and American Health, and she maintains the website www.defensivepessimism.com. She lives in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

Advance Praise for The Positive Power of Negative Thinking
"For a man whose blood type is ‘very negative,’ this book is just what my shrink ordered."
--Richard Lewis, author of The Other Great Depression

"Well, who would care about what I have to say about this fascinating book? No one is interested in my stupid opinion, even if I do think Julie Norem has an important corrective to add to all those ‘look on the bright side’ folks. It's about time for a book that shows us why we should be optimistic about pessimism."
--Carol Tavris, Ph.D., author of The Mismeasure of Woman

"Dr. Norem does a superb job of integrating astute insights about human nature with the latest research, presented in a clear and non-technical way. Everybody who reads this book will learn something about themselves and the people around them.
--David Funder, Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside

Created by: Leslie Chang and Natalie Ng
Date Created: July 9, 2001
Last Modified: July 26, 2001
Page Expires: August 31, 2001