When they’re in a good mood, they become complacent; they no longer have the anxiety that typically mobilizes their effort. If you want to sabotage defensive pessimists, just make them happy. What’s more, initial research evidence indicates that these types of people don’t experience negative moods as intensely as people who are more routinely upbeat. That is, their lowest lows aren’t so bad. In fact, research shows that defensive pessimists perform better than optimists in stressful, challenging situations. In Singapore, when the government warned the public about an outbreak of severe acute
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