unitone

可编辑

精品文档

UnitOne

Text:

YouAreWhatYouThink

Andifyouchangeyourmind-frompessimismto

optimism

-youcanchangeyourlife

ClaipeSafran

[1]Doyouetheglassashalffullratherthanhalf

empty?Doyoukeepyoureyeuponthedoughnut,not

uponthehole?Suddenlytheclichésarescientific

questions,asrearchersscrutinizethepowerof

positivethinking.

[2]Afast-growingbodyofrearch—104studiesso

far,involvingsome15,000people—isprovingthat

optimismcanhelpyoutobehappier,healthierand

ismleads,bycontrast,to

hopelessness,sicknessandfailure,andislinkedto

depression,lonelinessandpainfulshyness."Ifwe

couldteachpeopletothinkmorepositively,"says

onofRiceUniversity①in

Houston②，"itwouldbelikeinoculatingthemagainst

可编辑

精品文档

thementalills."

[3]"Yourabilitiescount,"explainspsychologist

rofCarnegieMellonUniversity③in

Pittsburgh④,"butthebeliefthatyoucansucceed

affectswhetherornotyouwill."Inpart,that's

becauoptimistsandpessimistsdealwiththesame

challengesanddisappointmentsinverydifferent

ways.

[4]Take,forexample,orstudy,

anoftheUniversity

ofPennsylvania⑤andcolleaguePeterSchulman

surveyedsalesreprentativesattheMetropolitan

undthatthe

positive-thinkersamonglongtimereprentatives

sold37-percentmoreinsurancethandidthe

yhiredreprentatives,

optimistssold20-percentmore.

[5]Impresd,thecompanyhired100peoplewho

hadfailedthestandardindustrytest⑥buthadscored

eople,whomightnever

havebeenhired,sold10percentmoreinsurance

thandidtheaveragereprentative.

可编辑

精品文档

[6]Howdidtheydoit?Thecrettoanoptimist's

success,accordingtoSeligman,isinhis"explanatory

style".Whenthingsgowrongthepessimisttendsto

blamehimlf."I'mnogoodatthis,"hesays,"I

alwaysfail."

blamestheweather,thephoneconnection,eventhe

stomerwasinabadmood,he

ingsgoright,theoptimisttakes

creditwhilethepessimistessuccessasafluke.

[7]CraigAndersonhadagroupofstudentsphone

strangersandaskthemtodonatebloodtotheRed

Cross⑦.Whentheyfailedonthefirstcallortwo,

pessimistssaid,"Ican'tdothis."Optimiststold

themlves,"Ineedtotryadifferentapproach."

[8]Negativeorpositive,itwasalf-fulfilling

prophecy."Ifpeoplefeelhopeless,"saysAnderson,

"theydon'tbothertoacquiretheskillstheyneedto

succeed."

[9]Anofcontrol,accordingtoAnderson,isthe

litmustest⑧imistfeelsincontrol

gsaregoingbadly,heacts

quickly,lookingforsolutions,forminganewplanof

可编辑

精品文档

action,simist

feelslikefate'

doesn'tekadvice,sinceheassumesnothingcanbe

done.

[10]Optimistsmaythinktheyarebetterthanthe

factswouldjustify—andsometimesthat'swhatkeeps

LevyofthePittsburghCancer

Institutestudiedwomenwithadvancedbreastcancer.

Forthewomenwhoweregenerallyoptimistic,there

wasalongerdia-freeinterval,thebestpredictor

otstudyofwomenintheearly

stagesofbreastcancer,undthedia

recurredsooneramongthepessimists.

[11]Optimismwon'tcuretheincurable,butitmay

gtermstudy,rearchers

examinedthehealthhistoriesofagroupofHarvard

graduates,allofwhomwereinthetophalfoftheir

ewere

positivethinkers,years

later,thereweremoremiddle-age

dias—hypertension,diabetes,heartailments

—amongthepessimiststhantheoptimists.

可编辑

精品文档

[12]Manystudiessuggestthatthepessimist's

feelingofhelplessnessunderminesthebody'snatural

defens,opher

PetersonoftheUniversityofMichigan⑨hasfound

thatthepessimistdoesn'ttakegoodcareofhimlf.

Feelingpassiveandunabletododgelife'sblows,he

expectsillhealthandothermisfortunes,nomatter

hesonjunkfood⑩，avoids

exerci,ignoresthedoctor,hasanotherdrink.

[13]Mostpeopleareamixofoptimismand

pessimism,butareinclinedinonedirectionorthe

atternofthinkinglearned“atyour

mother‘sknee”，soutof

thousandsofcautionsorencouragements,negative

y“don’ts”

andwarningsofdangercanmakeachildfeel

incompetent,fearful—andpessimistic.

[14]Astheygrow,childrenexperiencesmall

triumphs,s

canhelpturnthesuccessintoanofcontrol,

andthatbreedsoptimism.

[15]Pessimismisahardhabittobreak—butitcan

可编辑

精品文档

iesoflandmarkstudies,

Dweck11oftheUniversityofIllinois12hasbeen

shehelpsflounderingstudentstochangethe

explanationsfortheirfailures—from"Imustbe

dumb"to"Ididn'tstudyhardenough“—their

academicperformanceimproves.

[16]Pittsburgh'nderedifturning

pilotstudy,twogroupsofcolon-cancerpatientswere

giventhesamemedicaltreatment,butsomewere

alsogivenpsychologicalhelptoencourageoptimism.

jorstudy

isplannedtodeterminewhetherthispsychological

changecanalterthecourofthedia.

[17]So,ifyou'reapessimist,there'sreasonfor

'show,saysSteve

Hollon,apsychologistatVanderbiltUniversity13:

[18]efulattentiontoyourthoughtswhen

ownthefirstthingthat

comestomind,uneditedanduncensored

[19]thingthat's

可编辑

精品文档

'ssay

hink,I

hatemyjob,butIcouldnevergetabetterone?Actas

ifthatweren'tresuméterviews.

Lookintotrainingandcheckjobleads

[20]urfirst

thoughtsrightorwrong?"Ifyourthoughtsare

holdingyouback,changethem,"saysHollon."It's

trialanderror,noguarantees,butgiveyourlfa

chance."

[21]Positivethinkingleadstopositiveaction,and

uexpectfromtheworld,the

evidencesuggests,iswhatyou'relikelytoget.

.