Half Empty, Half Full: Understanding the Psychological Roots of Optimism

by Susan C. Vaughan

Book Overview

In this fascinating book, Columbia University research scientist and psychoanalyst Susan Vaughan argues that our fundamental view of life as half empty or half full is determined by our capacity for... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0151004013
• ISBN13: 9780151004010
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 1.24 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Here's to healthy illusions

Vaughan is a psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and researcher who can write for the public. In my coaching practice, I sometimes have to grapple with another person's innate and deeply-grounded pessimism and this book gave me ammunition. I do believe that optimism can be learned and in my efforts to extend my own and other people's optimism in the face of some bad-to-worse onslaughts from life, this book has been of immeasurable help. From the amygdala to dream analysis, Vaughan makes it all almost deceptively simple. I doubt that many can "do it" as well as she can, but learning about changing one's level of optimism -- in fact just knowing that we can -- is a great first step! This book gave me real information I can put into practice.

Pretty soon youre bound to spill it.

I especially love the studies that the author chose to include in this book. It is written in such a reader friendly manner so that even when I am triggered or as pesimistic as ever, I am still wanting to continue to read and get more information. It seems well thought out and written with very good knowledge of the subject so to make it far more likely that the author's perspective is true. I dont want to be permanently pesimistic.

IN REALITY, THE GLASS IS...WHATEVER YOU PERCEIVE IT TO BE!

The world consists of those who are pessimists(those who continually see the glass as half empty) or optimists (those who continually see the glass as half full.) Through my studies in psychology and years as a counsellor, it has become evident that how one "views the glass" is to a significant degree determined in the early formative years and the positive or negative relationship we had with our parents. Speaking in general terms, those who have been given encouragement and provided with love, security and a positive environment usually have a more optimistic outlook, and higher sense of self-worth and self-esteem, than those who have not had the benefits of such a nurturing relationship.As the author so aptly points out, it is never to late to become master of your own fate and change your outlook on life and how you "view the glass." Easier said than done - you bet! Lifelong habits and perceptions are difficult to change; however, with self-discipline and a commitment to long-term change, it can be mastered. Short of professional counselling, this book provides some valuable insights into the conditions which foster a pessimistic or optimistic attitude and suggests what one can do to change a formed, life-long way of thinking. Vaughn uses her professional expertise and fictional case studies to demonstrate how to boost one's level of self-confidence in order to "see the glass" (and life)in a more positive, optimistic manner.

Great Overview on the Bases and Benefits of Optimism!

Although I was familiar with most of the research described in this book, I had never connected it all together to understand its full meaning until I read this book. So whether you are new to the subject or an old hand, I think you will like and benefit from what you find here. We are making great strides towards understanding how healthy psychological states are formed, operate, and are improved. This book brings you up-to-date on where much of that thinking is now. Dr. Vaughan starts with the role that emotions play. Essentially, emotions tend to overload our rational mental processes. Getting those emotions under control helps us then to move on to make more appropriate decisions. There are many beautiful passages in the book that explain how optimism is hard-wired in the brain through parent-child interaction, especially during the infant years. No parent should miss this information. You are building your child's emotional infrastructure with your early attention!Those hard-wired reactions either allow us to modulate our emotional reactions well (which lets us see the glass as half-full) or poorly (which often leads us to see the same glass as half-empty). These are connected to a sense of confidence about how much control we have over the world around us. Those who have that confidence put forth more effort, find more options, and succeed much more often. This is confirmed in both animal (rats swimming) and human (efforts to solve problems) experiments. So optimism is a very valuable state to nurture.Now, if your upbringing wasn't perfect, you should still be optimistic because there are things you can do now to overcome those early handicaps that slow down your optimism. Smiling, thinking positive thoughts, changing your physiology in other ways, and exercising can all help. The author (a psycholoanalyst) also believes that this form of therapy can help. She uses a series of fictional cases about problems and dreams to show how discussing those images can sort out the meaning of the imagery to give a person more self-confidence and emotional control. To further round out your understanding of this subject, I also recommend that you read The Science of Happiness which contains much valuable information on brain physiology that complements the observations here, especially in how depression is overcome and avoided. The two books and subjects are strongly related.Whatever you do, seek out the best. Ask yourself daily, where is there vast opportunity in front of me that I can grasp now? As you experience finding that opportunity and capturing it, you will grow in optimism about your ability to do so continuously.

WOW! Talk about a great read!

This is one of the best self-help style books I've ever read, presenting a new theory of optimism and chock full of studies to support what the author is saying. It's also an enjoyable quick read that will make you think differently about what you do in your own mind as you go about your day to day life. The author's vignettes are not made up (as the first reviewer says), just disguised so that individual patients are not exposed and identifiable. In any case, the theory is founded in reams of research and review of scientific findings, not her own stories anyway. These are used instead to illustrate what the findings say in a personal and engaging way.Highly recommended!