Types of Thinking Styles

Types of Thinking Styles Thinking Styles: Optimistic, Pessimistic, and Emotional One of the key avenues of concern in critical and creative thinking is the recognition, acknowledgement, and appreciation of the influence of human factor to the thought process of each individual. A broad spectrum of factors, therefore, exists bearing a mark on the manner in which human beings think.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Types of Thinking Styles specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Examples of such factors are culture, emotion, stress, ego, among others. The discipline of critical and creative thinking strives to direct the attention of each person on the invaluable role played by these factors in making of decisions. This paper analyses, and compares and contrasts optimistic thinking, pessimistic thinking, and emotional thinking. Optimistic thinking is the type of thinking in which a person chooses to align his/her thoughts on the positive side of life regardless of how gloomy things look. People who have optimistic thoughts normally reassure themselves that all is well in any condition they find themselves. This, of course, has its advantages and disadvantages. Pessimistic thinking is the opposite of optimistic thinking. It refers to a style of thinking in which an individual sees the negative side of situations. In good and bad situations, such a person will always have something to get him/her worried. This obviously has its advantages and disadvantages. One of the advantages is that such a person will be able to anticipate challenges, and plan on how to overcome them. Emotional thinking is the style of thinking that is driven by what a person feels at a particular point in time (Martin, 2010, p. 1). For instance, if a person is feeling depressed, this style of thinking will attract thoughts of hopelessness and other related thoughts. The three thinking styles are largely similar. One of their similarities is the fact that the three thinking styles stem from the disposition of the particular individual with whom they are associated. For instance, an emotional person is likely to have an emotional thinking style; a pessimistic person is likely to have a pessimistic thinking style while an optimistic person is likely to have an optimistic thinking style (Pritchett, 2007, p. 1). In addition to this, emotional and pessimistic thinking styles are likely to have more negative influences on an individual than the optimistic thinking style. This is because the thinking style of a person is a key determinant of the appropriateness and success of actions that he/she takes in order to make a situation better.Advertising Looking for assessment on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The way a person perceives and thinks after succeeding in a certain thing is also a determinant factor of future success. A person with an emotional thinking s tyle may for example over-celebrate an instance of success leading to future failures. It is however important to note that despite the fact that the optimistic thinking style is generally better as compared to the other two, it has its weaknesses. A person with an optimistic thinking style may take things for granted while assuming that all will be well. This may lead to a failure that will take him/her by surprise. After repeated failures, such a person may even develop a negative disposition like being emotional. This may make him/her an emotional thinker (Martin, 2010, p. 1). It is, therefore, important to note that dispositions are not static. Therefore, a person may have more than one of the three thinking styles during his/her lifetime. Reference List Martin, P. (2010). Explanatory Style – Optimism/Pessimism. Retrieved from  http://stresscourse.tripod.com/id103.html [November 4, 2011] Pritchett, P. (2007). How pessimism can add value to our work, Hard Optimism. Retri eved from  http://inhome.rediff.com/money/2007/aug/28book.htm [November 4, 2011]