The surprising benefits of being a pessimist

• While normally pessimism means blaming yourself for the negative outcomes, defensive pessimism takes this at a whole new level, harnessing the negative feeling and using it as a stepping stone towards eventual success. It makes use of the negative inclination and brings unexpected rewards.
• It is also used as a strategy by people who want to manage their anxiety and steer away from the imagined negative outcomes.
• Defensive pessimism lends people a strangely high level of confidence and self-esteem. Their success in the anticipation and avoidance of the negative outcomes make them steer through life in a better way, especially in the formative school and college years.

Having a defensively pessimistic strategy can help one chart out a course of action to ensure that the mishaps that are envisioned do not turn into reality.

Example: Having a low expectation of an interview, along with brooding about what all could go wrong can help one practice harder and plan to avoid those outcomes.