The Only Thing We Have to Fear is Optimism
posted by Frank Pasquale
Robert Lee Holtz at the WSJ covers recent developments in the positive psychology movement:
Dr. Martin Seligman said[:] optimists tend to do better in life than their talents alone might suggest. Except lawyers. Surveying law students at the University of Virginia, he found that pessimists got better grades, were more likely to make law review and, upon graduation, received better job offers. There was no scientific reason. “In law,” he said, “pessimism is considered prudence.”
Though I’ve found more than a few law profs too whiggish in their optimism, Seligman’s observations are confirmed by my time at a law firm. Beneath a veneer of bonhomie, the partners were constantly worried about adverse outcomes for their clients. As it should be–I’d far prefer an anxious lawyer or doctor to one with a mind halfway to Margaritaville.
There is even a philosophy of pessimism, and many reflective commentators have embraced cultural declinism. Nevertheless, the researchers claim that optimism in general is a positive influence:
[Optimism] shapes our decisions about family, health, work and finances in surprisingly prudent ways, concluded economists at Duke University in a new study published in the Journal of Financial Economics. “Economists have focused on optimism as a miscalibration, as a distorted view of the future,” said Duke finance scholar David T. Robinson. “A little bit of optimism is associated with a lot of positive economic choices.”
I’m sure the 2 million or so homeowners about to get foreclosed on appreciate the wisdom of that perspective.
November 11, 2007 at 10:35 am
Posted in: Economic Analysis of Law, Law School
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