Say you’re waiting for school exam results, or you have a dental appointment coming up. A lot of people believe that they can prepare themselves for these sorts of uncertain outcomes by assuming the worst will happen.
That way, if you get poor exam results or the dentist trip turns into a drilling ordeal, it won’t come as such a shock. Hence the expression, ‘hope for the best, plan for the worst’. But is this strategy really beneficial?
Based on psychology research findings, the short answer is no.
The first drawback is that bracing for the worst will make you feel sad and anxious before the event. This makes sense. After all, you’ve convinced yourself something bad is going to happen.
For obvious reasons, you’ll feel better in the lead up to the exam results, the dental visit (or whatever uncertain and daunting event you have coming up if you think positively and assume it’ll go well.
But what about if you end up bombing the exam or the dentist gets trigger-happy? Won’t bracing yourself take the edge off these negative experiences? Isn’t it possible to erect a kind of emotional shield?
Unfortunately not. We don’t have data for every conceivable situation, but at least in the context of exam results, there’s ample evidence that people who receive disappointing grades feel just as bad whether they expected them or not – and that’s true both right after getting the results and in the days afterwards.
Another similar study showed that having negative expectations about an upcoming public speaking task led people to feel worse right after doing it, not better. It seems bracing simply doesn’t work when it comes to our emotions.
This is actually relevant to a topical issue of our age to do with trigger warnings. The logic behind these warnings is that they’ll allow people to brace themselves for difficult emotional experiences, such as sensitive topics or upsetting material in plays, books or films.
Time and again, however, research has shown that trigger warnings are not effective at helping people protect themselves emotionally.
You might still be wondering about the dangers of over-optimism or complacency. The good thing about optimism is that it tends to drive motivation. If you think you have a chance of doing well in the exams, you’re more likely to put effort into studying for them.
Researchers have shown this in studies with students: those who are more optimistic tend to put more effort into their studies, and then they tend to get better grades as a result. In other words, optimism can become self-fulfilling.
An important message from this optimism research is to remember the effort part of the equation. Unfounded, lazy optimism – simply hoping for the best and leaving it at that – isn’t a good strategy. Thinking positively and investing the necessary effort to do well? Now that is a winning formula.
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