悲観的になるべきか

Most people believe that mentally preparing for the worst outcome in an examination or race will soften the disappointment if we flunk or flop - and heighten the joy if we succeed. But the idea has rarely been put on scientific trial.

Margaret Marshall of Seattle Pacific University and Jonathon Brown of the University of Washington, Seattle, did just that.

Natureのnewsに載っていた心理学研究の結果です。いつも最悪の状況を考えてるような悲観的思考回路がいいかどうかを、80人あまりの大学生を使って調査してます。その結果はさておき、最後に

Sadly, this means there is no simple advice about whether we ought to expect the worst. This study "is part of a very large puzzle", Norem says.

つまり今回の研究結果だけでは悲観的に考えるのがいいかどうか答えを出せない、とのこと。難しいもんだ