Conflict Case

Pessimism, Cynicism, and Negative thinking at workplace

His pessimism about the future of our country depresses me.

Of course a pessimist is on the top of the list of people who are likely to lose hope and get depressed. Because of these reasons I decided to write my course project paper to help them to understand the causes of pessimism and help them to know about the best ways to deal with it.

According to Topchik (2001), pessimism is the tendency to see only the negative or worst aspects of all things and to expect only bad or unpleasant things to happen. Workplace pessimism is prevalent in corporate organizations and growing rapidly. Pessimism is a deciding factor for success or failure and can be an uphill battle for managers and organizations. Individuals who display negative emotions experience negative stress at a greater level than others do and they tend to find dissatisfaction in their job and life in general. Some individuals are born with pessimism while others become pessimistic because of their environment. Psychologists argue that an individual's personality is a combination of genetic make-up and life experiences. Individuals who constantly convey pessimistic thoughts and actions are more likely to engage in destructive actions. Looking at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, companies in the United States stand to lose three billion dollars annually because of pessimism. Generally, where you find exhibits of pessimistic behavior by employees, you will find resistance to change and fresh ideas.

He further states that pessimistic employees complain tremendously, unmotivated, create a nonproductive environment and always expecting the worst in a situation. Companies lose money because of increased customer complaints and error rates, elevated employee turnover, absences, reduced morale, loyalty and creativity. Much of the problem comes from, but is not