Not
sure which strategy you use? Take Julie Norem's test, reprinted here from The
Positive Power of Negative Thinking (Basic Books, 2001).
Think
of a situation where you want to do your best. It may be related to work, to your
social life, or to any of your goals. When you answer the following questions,
please think about how you prepare for that kind of situation. Rate how true each
statement is for you.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Not at all true
of me
Very
true of me
To figure out where you
stand, add your scores for all the questions.
Possible scores range from 12 to 84, and higher scores indicate a stronger tendency
to use defensive pessimism.
If
you score above 50, you would qualify as a defensive
pessimist.
If
you score below 30, you would qualify as a strategic
optimist.
If
you score between 30 and 50, you may use both strategies,
or neither strategy consistently.
How
you score will be influenced by the kind of situation you were thinking about
when you answered the questions, because you may use different strategies in different
situations.
Optimist
or pessimist? Take the test.
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