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Summary: Constructive Thinking about Worry, Anxiety, Depression, Life
Review: I enjoyed reading this book, with its fascinating personality test for individual differences in optimism -- pessimism and its interesting case histories. PPNT is also the most helpful psychology book I have read in a long time -- new insight into myself, people I know, and how we do (or don't) get along. The author's idea of "constructive pessimism" as an adaptive cognitive strategy for feeling better and living better is a great contribution to the psychology of everyday life. Not everyone has an optimistic temperament, and many of us struggle with worry, anxiety, and/or depression. Dr. Norem's book has helpful insights into thoughts, feelings, and real life.
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Summary: This book lacks focus and direction.
Review: I have to agree with many of the other reviewers about how repetitious this book is. After every page I turned it felt as if the author was just saying the same thing over and over again without ever coming to any kind of conclusion. I was amazed at how someone could babble on for 200-some odd pages without actually saying anything. The whole time I was reading the book I just felt like it wasn't really going anywhere and I felt as if right around the next page I was going to find some conclusion that would tie everything together and make some kind of sense of it all, but there never was such a page. Being quite a pessimist myself, I really wanted to like this book but I really didn't and so I don't recommend this book.
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Summary: The Positive Side of Pessimism!
Review: In this engaging and intriguing book, Julie Norem tells how to make your pessimism work for you. She explains why some people have a personality style called "defensive pessimism", how this coping strategy works well for them, and why it should be seen in a positive light. A psychologist who has done extensive research in this area, Norem gives many case examples and research findings which illustrate and demonstrate how pessimism can be a legitimate and constructive approach to life. As a lifelong pessimist who has never been able to follow the constant advice to "look on the bright side", Norem's book along with psychologist Barbara Held's excellent and complimentary book, "Stop Smiling, Start Kvetching: A 5-Step Guide to Creative Complaining", have taught me I don't have to continue trying to suppress or stamp out my pessimism. Rather, I can now embrace it and use it constructively. These books have also helped me see the legitimacy of my pessimism and explain its merits to those who are constantly telling me to be more positive or to have a nice day. I'll be giving both books to fellow pessimists and oppressive optimists for Christmas!
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Summary: A MUST READ
Review: Julie K. Norem is a master of all trades. She has an incredible reputation around these parts as being an excellent psychologist, a fantastic Professor at Wellesley, but most of all, she is a phenomenal writer. Her 18 years of research in this field shows in her book. Her use of negativity to bring about positive results actually work. I myself personally went through social phobia and I found that in certain instances imagining the worst case senario and then imagining myself handling the scenario I'm anxious about helped me to deal with real world situations. But this is just one aspect of her use of negativity to bring about positive results. Being myself an author of the book, The Little Guide To Happiness, yet not having nearly the experience or education of Mrs. Norem, I must say she can teach me a thing or two not only in the areas of psychology but in the areas of writing. Her book is a joy to read. ...
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Summary: Typically Female Style
Review: Most Females (or other minority groups) appear to practice the management philosophy of Dr. Norem's positive negativism, perhaps because typically being followers rather than recognized leaders, they've often had to entertain the high probability of failure, due to bias, discrimination or simply histories of it. The idea that optimists occur across the gender gap, the racial gap, or the disability or ethnic minority gap is preposterous. Anyone who struggles with the presumptions of success as heavily concentrated in the domain of the majority is not logical to emotionally invest in that traditional attitude because of the failures they are used to having to absorb. Optimism, itself, is very much rooted in the success history of the past, and to those who are class, gender and identity favored. All of the rest practice to varying degrees the process of positive negativism by conditioning if not by training and experience. Why should it be otherwise?
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Summary: A Book About The Other Half
Review: What could be more All American than "the power of positive thinking" or "positive mental attitude"? Norman Vincent Peale, Dale Carnegie and Napoleon Hill sold millions of books in the twentieth century, and inspirational self-help books about happiness are a big trend today. So it may surprise many people that Dr. Martin Seligman, author of Authentic Happiness, is just quoted in Time magazine saying that about half of us have the genetic predisposition that gives the pleasant state of simply feeling happy, and the other half of us do not. That other half has the tendency to experience anxiety, worry, and negativity more often, and perhaps more easily, than pleasantly happy feelings. A similar point is made by Dr. Lykken in his book about happiness. This research makes sense to me, in that it seems a sensible scientific generalization that also fits with my own life experiences with a variety of people. So my reading of Dr. Norem's book "The Positive Power of Negative Thinking" is that it is a book for the 'other half' -- those who often tend toward the negative -- as well as a book that explains pessimists and optimists to each other.The idea of 'defensive pessimism' according to the author, is that it is "a strategy that can help anxious people harness their anxiety so that it works for rather than against them." That seems like a good thing to me -- adaptive and constructive -- since research shows that positive thinking exercises don't help everyone, and sometimes make things worse. Some people need a different strategy to be at their best. Being a defensive pessimist seems a lot better than being a depressed, hopeless pessimist, and it may be more natural for some people than unsuccessfully trying to be a "Don't Worry, Be Happy" optimist. Personally, I score near the middle of the optimism--pessimism test in the book, so reading it has helped me to understand people I know who are at opposite ends, better than I did before. The main point I got out of it is that the decision to be made is not "Is the glass half full or half empty?" but "Which half of people do you or the person you are dealing with belong to -- the optimistic or the pessimistic?" because different things seem to work best for different people. That is a new perspective that I find informative and useful, so I am positive toward this book about negativity.
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Summary: Nuanced look at different coping strategies
Review: While billed as a "contrarian" view, Norem's book is really a more nuanced look at what constitutes pessimism, optimism and the difference between them and hope. Consequently, she identifies highly functional people who are none the less pessimistic. These individuals deal with their preexisting anxiety by using the strategy of "defensive pessimism." Norem discusses in detail the advantages and disadvantages of this strategy, but shows how those people predisposed to handling their anxiety via defensive pessimism can be harmed by being optimistic. Norem spends a good deal of time making the important distinction between the defensive pessimist and other forms of pessimism that are truly debilitating. "The Positive Power of Negative Thinking" is not a 12-step program. Instead, it is a highly accessible discussion of personality types and strategies for dealing with the anxiety that modern society brings.
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Summary: Realistic Psychology for Real People
Review: While billed as a "contrarian" view, Norem's book is really a more nuanced look at what constitutes pessimism, optimism and the difference between them and hope. Consequently, she identifies highly functional people who are none the less pessimistic. These individuals deal with their preexisting anxiety by using the strategy of "defensive pessimism." Norem discusses in detail the advantages and disadvantages of this strategy, but shows how those people predisposed to handling their anxiety via defensive pessimism can be harmed by being optimistic. Norem spends a good deal of time making the important distinction between the defensive pessimist and other forms of pessimism that are truly debilitating. "The Positive Power of Negative Thinking" is not a 12-step program. Instead, it is a highly accessible discussion of personality types and strategies for dealing with the anxiety that modern society brings.
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