Pyschological term needed

[sufcintheprem]

Well, I say needed but I actually mean wanted.

I was writing an e-mail and, for some reason, really wanted to summarise a human condition that I am guessing someone else has already summarised.

Basically, the condition s such that a human, in any given circumstances, will always want for more and will always look upon past results in a manner that over-emphasises positive aspects. In a way, it is similar to 'the grass is always greener on teh other side' but you won't impress anyone reciting a Travis lyric.

Any psychologists on here that might know?

 

[Pubey]

an optimist??

wiki: Overoptimism, or strong optimism, is the overarching mental state wherein people believe that things will more likely go well for them than go badly. Compare this with the valence effect of prediction, a tendency for people to overestimate the likelihood of good things happening rather than bad things.

Optimism bias is the demonstrated systematic tendency for people to be over-optimistic about the outcome of planned actions.

Personal optimism correlates strongly with self-esteem, with psychological well-being and with personal health. Martin Seligman, in researching this area, criticises academics for focusing too much on causes for pessimism and not enough on optimism. He points out that in the last three decades of the 20th century journals published 46,000 psychological papers on depression and only 400 on joy.

Optimism has been shown to be correlated with better immune systems in healthy people who have been subjected to stress.[1]

Ideologically convinced optimists may defend failures in their hoped-for outcomes by discussing "misplaced optimism" rather than abandoning optimism altogether.

A number of scholars have suggested that, although optimism and pessimism might seem like opposites, in psychological terms they do not function in this way. Having more of one does not mean you have less of the other. The factors that reduce one do not necessarily increase the other. On many occasions in life we need both in equal supply. Antonio Gramsci famously called for "pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will": the one the spur to action, the other the resilience to believe that such action will result in meaningful change even in the face of adversity.

Hope can become a force for social change when it combines optimism and pessimism in healthy proportions. John Braithwaite, an academic at the Australian National University, suggests that in modern society we undervalue hope because we wrongly think of it as a choice between hopefulness and naïveté as opposed to scepticism and realism.

A research project has claimed that slighter higher IQs correlate with optimistic viewpoints.

 

[sufcintheprem]

Nah, that's not quite it.

An optimist would be happy with their lot. The one I'm looking for is the condition where someone looks upon past events favourably and always feels they could do better as a result.

**shudders at the thought of having to use 'rose-tinted glasses'**

 

[Firestorm]

Quote[/b] (sufcintheprem @ Dec. 27 2006,11:09)]Nah, that's not quite it.

An optimist would be happy with their lot.  The one I'm looking for is the condition where someone looks upon past events favourably and always feels they could do better as a result.

**shudders at the thought of having to use 'rose-tinted glasses'**

A condition similar to "we won the Champions league 5 years ago, so we can win it every year" ?

Mancunian syndrome by poxy ...it the correct medical term I think.

 

[Bielzibubz]

Pre Menstrual Tension

"I nearly killed the ******* last month but I'll make sure this time"

Seriously, no idea and it hurt even trying to think of a sensible answer, sorry

 

[blues_r_best]

An addict?

 

[David Essex]

Quote[/b] (sufcintheprem @ Dec. 25 2006,23:47)]Basically, the condition s such that a human, in any given circumstances, will always want for more and will always look upon past results in a manner that over-emphasises positive aspects.  In a way, it is similar to 'the grass is always greener on teh other side' but you won't impress anyone reciting a Travis lyric.

Any psychologists on here that might know?

Ambitious

 

[SARF]

Arsehole.?