Planning for/expecting the worst doesnt help

[cute fuzzy bunny]

http://www.nature.com/news/2006/0601...060130-13.html

A ridiculously insignificant study shows that preparing for the worst just makes you feel miserable, and doesnt help when the expected failure does show up.

[Eagle43]

I expected that article to be total bull$$$$ and it was!

[riskadverse]

quote:

The study, published in Cognition and Emotion1, suggests that a person's reaction to disappointment or failure is determined mainly by their general outlook on life. Those who expect to succeed tend to have a sunnier stance all round, the researchers say. If they fall short of their goals, they are likely to look on the bright side and still think they have done reasonably well.

"These people, who see the world through rose-tinted spectacles, also tend to deny responsibility for their poor performance. Marshall and Brown showed this in a second part of the study, in which students were also asked whether they felt their test performance was a reflection of their ability. The 'rose-tinted' group who did badly in the test tended to believe that it was not.

I believe Wall Street uses the above reactions to assist in fleecing the general public.

[ladelfina]

I thought they were talking about George W.

[HFWR]

I didn't see "dipsh:t" mentioned... :P

[sgeeeee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eagle43 I expected that article to be total bull$$$$ and it was!*

". . . Sadly, this means there is no simple advice about whether we ought to expect the worst. This study "is part of a very large puzzle", Norem says."

The puzzle is how this stuff gets funded and published.

[haha]

This article is poorly presented. However, it deals with a technique called "emotional rehearsal" which has proven to be quite helpful to people in many situations. The goal is not to feel ok when you get kicked in the head- who could? The goal is to get better at predicting your regret states given certain outcomes to your decisions. Then this knowledge may help your decision making.

Say you are relatively young, and you have a nice house in San Diego not far from the beach. You and your wife and kids love the life. But you suspect that the housing market is toppy, and that you could take out a big hunk of tax free money by selling, renting, and buying back a similar house later.

Emotional rehearsal would have you try to understand how you, your wife, and your kids will feel (and feel about you) if you do that, and the housing market keeps on chugging. You feel locked out; you have lost your Prop 13 advantage, mortgage rates may have increeased, but you do have your cash.

So how do you feel?

Ha

[sgeeeee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HaHa . . . So how do you feel? Ha

I fell fine. Thanks for asking, Ha. I'm really glad I'm not that guy in San Diego.