Optimism - genuine or pretense?

Personally, I examine the negative stuff and do what I can about it, then do my best to let it go.

the question is good, the explanation is somewhat bias.
i am fairly optimistic and it is genuine!

Most of the people I know who seem overly optimistic have a dark or troubled side that comes out from time to time.

One of my roommates last year was like that. At first, I thought she was a genuinely optimistic person, but I realized (after living with her for a year) that she was really a manic-depressive with a huge denial problem...

When I am optimistic, I genuinely feel that way. There are times that I don't feel optimistic and I don't express optimism, although I try to be sufficiently self-aware to note that the probable outcomes haven't changed, only my attitude about them. I'm intensely cynical, but that doesn't prevent me from being fairly upbeat.

<sarcasm> Gee, these options aren't biased at all </sarcasm>

I am positive around the people who make me happy(Mallory, Sue ,Nick,Sarah, Matt and animals...all animals,except poodles!)...I shine rays of positive light and energy on them because they deserve it!!!!I am positive about my future....and excited by it.

I usually hate overly positive people because they seem phony to me.

I have long bouts of deep negativity towards the portion of the adult human race that I deem..."stupid" or a waste. I feel a lot of hatred at times towards other human adults. But I suck it up and smile when I HAVE to...like at work....I work in retail, with the public.....can you tell?

Good question, don't much care for the answers.
I know people who are usually optimistic but sometimes not. The fact that they are willing to express negative feelings on some occasions makes me believe that when they express positive feelings, they do so genuinely.
I know people who act cheerful/positive in a nongenuine way as part of the process of improving their own mood. I do this myself on occasion. I don't consider it a pretense or a charade; just a tool for changing my own mind.
I don't know what most people do.

Okay people...please help me out here. Does this survey seem biased because of the tone of the explanation and choices, or because of the lack of certain choices? I really was trying not to be biased, but couldn't think of a better way to put it and get the point across. I'd appreciate it if anyone has any suggestions so I can do better next time.

Elijahblue - Your comments in several other surveys are what inspired me to create this one. I was hoping to discuss this here rather than getting off topic in other surveys. But all I got from you was sarcasm! Please understand that my intention is not to pick a fight, but rather to try to gain an understanding of other people's thoughts. I don't necessarily think my way is THE right or best way, but I know it works for me. I'm trying to understand how other people feel about this subject.

I believe it's rather a bad idea to go around second guessing other people's moods too much. It's pretty healthy to second guess your own, and helpful and kind to pay close attention to your friends and loved ones, but "people in general" is not a very useful category to try to analyze.

It seems foreign to me that people might act happy when they feel bad, to in a sense, cheer themselves up. When I feel non-positive I have to growl it all out to feel better. Acting happy or cheerful is something I don't think I've ever done to help myself out of a negative mood.

Same here. If I'm having a bad day I do a lot of grumbling. But I don't let things get me down for long. I'm not a person who stays depressed about anything for very long...if I'm bummed for a whole day, I'm usually in a much brighter mood the next day. Your focus is your reality. (I think I stole that from the Phantom Menace.)

Well, mine is genuine. I think some other people's is and some isn't.

I read one article on the topic which presented the interesting possibility that optimistic people just aren't paying enough attention

And why are we so filled with guilty pleasure when they fail?

seven - there's an oft-cited experiment done decades ago (no, I don't have the citation, deal with it) where a light would periodically turn on, either green or red, and subjects were asked to press buttons to increase the chances of one color or the other, and to then (after many trials) estimate how much effect their button-pushing had. The subjects were also asked to describe themselves as optimists, pessimists, or neither. The self-described optimists consistently over-rated their ability to affect the system; the self-described pessimists were significantly closer to a real estimate.

Interpret as you will.

seven and dpolicar: I would love to see the research. Even if you don't have the full citation, do you have anything more I could go on?

Fake happiness makes me sick...My family fronts it all the time..and they hate the fact that I don't.

elijahblue - I first came across a reference to it in an issue of Omni when I was about 10... that is, sometime in the late 70s. I dug up the reference years later as a college student, but don't remember a damned thing about it. Sorry.

I lived with a chronic optimist once. I can't believe she hasn't been killed by it yet, but at least it is proof that optimism can be genuine. Of course, she probably can't believe I haven't killed myself yet, but maybe that is proof that my cynicism isn't genuine.

No, and I tend to think pessimists sometimes just want to be drama queens.