Norem - The positive power of negative thinking: using defensive pessimism to manage anxiety and perform at your peak

Agoraphobia

Allen,Woody

Anxiety

drug treatment of

interfering effects of,

managing through defensive

pessimism

manifestations of

negative moods and

predispositions and strategies for

managing

self-conception and

strategies for coping with (see Strategies)

women and

Approach motivation

Aron, Raymond

Attributional styles,

Attributions

Avoidance

literal

negative emotions and

self-conception and

self-handicapping (see Self- handicapping)

as a strategy

Avoidance motivation

Brainstorming

Caricatures of strategies

Children

defensive pessimism and

strategy development within the

family

Claustrophobia

Complexity, of life and terminology

Control, illusory

Cousins, Norman

Crowley, Aleister

Cultural values, strategies and

conflicting

Defensive pessimism

as anxiety management

attributional style and

changing strategies

children and

dispositional pessimism and

examples of

goal setting and personal growth

matching with personalities

measuring

negative emotions and,

popular reaction to explanation of

positive emotions and,

positive illusions and

reality, distorted perception of

research supporting (see Research)

risks of

self-conception and

social relations (see Social relations)

women and

Depression, and attributional style,

Disappointments, managing through

defensive pessimism

Dispositional optimism/pessimism,

Downward social comparison

Drug use

Durant, Will

Dylan, Bob

Emotions. See Moods

Expectations, managing through

defensive pessimism

Experience sampling

Explanatory styles. See Attributional

styles

Goal setting

Happiness

Health, and optimism/pessimism

Heinlein, Robert

High-functioning individuals

Hope

Illusory control

Imagery, positive

Ironic processing

Jung, Carl

Mastery imagery

Mencken, Henry L.

Mental rehearsal

Moods

alternative strategies and

impact of

negative (see Negative emotions)

positive,perils of

predispositions and

social relationships and

Motivational predispositions

Narcissism

Negative emotions

defensive pessimism and,

repressing

Noncontingent success

Optimism

illusory control and

mood and

self-esteem and

strategic (see Strategic optimism)

varieties of

Panic attacks

Pathways thinking

Personal character, strategies and

Personal growth

Pessimism

conventional wisdom regarding

defensive (see Defensive pessimism)

mood and

varieties of

Phobia

Planning

Positive illusions

Positive psychology

Powell, Colin

Predispositions

motivational

temperamental

Premature cognitive narrowing

Reality, perceptions of

Relaxation techniques

Repression

Research

expectations and anxiety

imagery and relaxation

matching strategies and

personalities

mental rehearsal

moods

perceptions of reality

real life, study of

Risks

defensive pessimism

strategic optimism

Rodin, Auguste

Roosevelt,Theodore

Russell, Bertrand,

Self-conception

anxiety and

building self-esteem

defensive pessimism and

illusory control and

optimism and

strategic optimism and

Self-esteem. See Self-conception

Self-handicapping

attributional style and

attributions

behavioral

costs and effects of

negative emotions and

self-conception and

as a strategy

Self-therapy, defensive pessimism as

Social relations

clashing strategies

cultural clashes

first impressions

negotiating

ongoing interactions

perceptions of others

strategy variation within

Strategic optimism

as anxiety management

attributional style and,

dispositional optimism and

examples of

ironic processing and

matching with personalities

moods and

narcissism and

positive illusions and

reality, distorted perception of

risks of

self-conception and

(see also Positive illusions)

social relations (see Social relations)

Strategies

avoidance (see Avoidance)

caricatures of

changing

clashing

comparing

conflicting and cultural clashes

defensive pessimism (see Defensive pessimism)

within families

matching with personalities

meaning of "strategy,"

measuring

reality, variance in distorted

perceptions of

repertoire of and toolbox metaphor,

risks of (see Risks)

social relationships and

strategic optimism (see Strategic optimism)

Symptom-claiming

Temperamental predispositions

Twain, Mark

Wolfe, Nero Women

anxiety and

defensive pessimism and

Worrying

Worst-case analysis

Yerkes-Dodson Law,

The Positive
Power
of Negative
Thinking

Using Defensive Pessimism
to Manage Anxiety
and Perform at Your Peak

JULIE K. NOREM

Basic Books
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
Copyright 2001 by Julie K. Norem

First paperback edition published in 2002 by Basic Books, a member of
the Perseus Books Group.

All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of
this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written
permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical
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Department at the Perseus Books Group, 11 Cambridge Center,
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Set in 11 point Bembo by Perseus Publishing Services

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Norem, Julie K., 1960
The positive power of negative thinking : using defensive pessimism
to manage anxiety and perform at your peak / Julie K. Norem.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-465-05138-3 (hc); 0-465-05139-1 (pbk)
eBook ISBN: 9780786725304
1. SuccessPsychological aspects. 2. Pessimism. I.Title.

BF637.S8 N65 2001

158.1dc21 2001035481
CIP

02 03 04 05 / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To my parents, Rosalie H. Norem,
Ken Norem, and Sandy Magnuson;
my husband, Jonathan Cheek;
and my children, Nathan and Haley

Therefore, since the world has still
Much good, but much less good than ill,
And while the sun and moon endure
Lucks a chance, but the troubles sure
Id face it as a wise man would
And train for ill and not for good.

A. E . HOUSEMAN