Positive thinking

Positive thinking is an approach that emphasizes optimistic thoughts and attitudes. It can shape how people interpret events, pursue goals, and respond to setbacks.

Optimism bias: A tendency to expect more favorable outcomes for oneself than evidence warrants. It shows how favorable expectations can persist even when objective risks remain.
Positive psychology: The scientific study of well-being, strengths, and conditions that help individuals and communities thrive. It investigates optimism and related attitudes as part of a broader account of well-being.
Toxic positivity: The insistence on maintaining a positive outlook that dismisses or suppresses negative emotions and hardship. It shows how positive thinking can become invalidating when difficult feelings are denied.
Resilience: The capacity to adapt or recover amid adversity, stress, or significant change. Optimistic interpretations can support coping, but resilience also depends on skills and circumstances.
Self-efficacy: A person’s belief in their capacity to organize and carry out actions needed for a goal. Confidence in capability can turn optimistic attitudes into sustained effort.
Cognitive behavioral therapy: A structured psychotherapy that examines links among thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Its techniques test unhelpful thoughts rather than simply replacing them with cheerful ones.
Defensive pessimism: A strategy in which people anticipate potential problems to manage anxiety and prepare for them. It offers a contrasting route to preparation that does not depend on optimistic expectations.
Stress management: Methods for reducing or coping with demands that tax a person’s resources. Reframing stressors positively can help some people cope without removing the underlying demands.
Cognitive reappraisal: Changing an emotional response by interpreting a situation in a different way. It is a concrete strategy for replacing a discouraging interpretation with a more constructive one.
Rational emotive behavior therapy: A psychotherapy developed by Albert Ellis that challenges rigid, self-defeating beliefs. It distinguishes constructive thinking from demands for unrealistically positive outcomes.

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