Notes from a Psychologist
Dr. Mel Whitehurst

                       YOU MAY WANT TO KNOW THIS   


IS IT BETTER TO BE OPTIMISTIC AND WRONG, OR PESSIMISTIC AND RIGHT?

Research shows that people feel significantly worse when their pessimistic expectations are confirmed than when their optimistic expectations are disproven by a negative outcome.

Intuitively, we might assume that having our pessimistic expectations confirmed would make us feel somewhat better because we were “right.” Yet, this is not how people typically respond.  In reality, the confirmation of pessimistic expectations does not produce positive feelings.

Answer to the headline question:  It’s better to be optimistic and wrong.

SOURCE

Inon Raz, Niv Reggev and Michael Gilead, Is It Better to Be Happy or Right?  Examining the relative role of the pragmatic and epistemic imperatives in momentary affective evaluations, Emotions, 2024, Vol. 24, No. 6, 1342-1377

      DO YOU WANT TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE?

Polls consistently show that character is the trait voters value most when choosing a political leader.  Political ideology usually ranks second.

University researchers found that people are far more willing to entrust power to leaders who demonstrate one core element of character:  consistently and genuinely following through on their commitments.  People tend to trust leaders more who practice what they preach. (See sources below.)

Regrettably, I have frequently misjudged the character---or more accurately, the absence character displayed by some of today’s political leaders.  Leaders who say one thing and do another seem to be thriving.

In my view, if we want our democracy to remain strong and viable, we must all become far more discerning in how we choose our leaders.  Be certain their actions match their words.

SOURCES

Annika School, Helen Rapp, Gerben van Kleef, and Kai Sassenbert, On the Road to Power:  Showing Benevolence and integrity Fuels Power Granting, Journal of Experimental Psychology:  Applied, 2025, Vol. 31, No. 4, 243-259

Gleb Tsipursky and Tim Ward, Pro Truth:  A Practical Plan for Putting Truth Back into Politics, John Hunt Publishing, Hampshire, UK, 2020

                      DOES TRUTH MATTER IN POLITICS?

If political leaders can succeed by telling lies, then truth does not actually matter. 


                   A CASE FOR KINDNESS AND INTEGRITY?

When researchers asked people to evaluate others on the moral traits of kindness and integrity, they found that people high on kindness and integrity were also happier.

Source

Jessie Sun, Wen Wu, and Goeffrey Goodwin, Are Moral People Happier?  Answers from Reputation-Based Measures of Moral Character, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology:  Personality Processes and Individual Differences, 2025, Vol. 128, No. 5, 1160-180

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                  ARE SMILING PEOPLE MORE TRUSTWORTHY


Predicting other people’s trustworthiness is an important aspect of everyday social life.  In a recent study, participants were shown three sets of faces, angry, sad, and smiling, and asked to rate each person’s trustworthiness.

Smiling faces earned the highest trust ratings, strongly suggesting that people who smile often are perceived as more trustworthy.


From now on, I’m turning over a new leaf.  I plan to smile more and to “try” to give up “some” of my cantankerous ways.  Also, I’m thinking it might be time to enroll in smiling lessons.


SOURCE

Michael Olszanowski, Aleksandra Tolopilo, and Ursula Hess, Smile and the World Smiles (and Trusts) With You:  Happiness mimicry Shapes First Impressions, Emotion, 2026, Vol. 26.  No. 2, 49​

                         ARE WE READY FOR A DICTATOR?

“Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.” (Sir Walter Scott)

Numerous current political leaders attempt to mold our thinking by creating tangled webs of deception, confusing and disrupting those they lead.  Uninformed voters often fail to recognize these behaviors for what they are: the tactics of authoritarian, anti‑democratic leaders.

I believe that in our present political environment we are being psychologically prepared like Pavlovian classical conditioning to accept a future dictator!

POST-FACTO NOTE

I’m not certain, but we may already have an authoritarian leader to obediently follow.  It could just be my overactive imagination, however.  Would someone please check my thinking to make certain I’m on the right path?

Sources of Information

Ronald Miller, Analysis of Sequential Variables in Pavlovian conditioning:  A Simulation Reset Predicts Both Pavlovian and Instrumental Conditioning Outcomes

 Julia Lee, Ashley Hardin, Bidham Parmar, & Francesca Gino, The Interpersonal Costs of Dishonesty:  How Dishonest Behavior Reduces Individuals’ Ability to Read Others’ Emotions, Journal of Experimental Psychology:  General, 2029, Vol. 148, No. 9, 1557-1574 

               THERE IS PERHAPS A MORAL TO THIS STORY

One day while growing up, my dad discovered a raccoon in the barn tearing into feed sacks.  He captured it and put it in a wire cage while deciding what to do with it.

In the meantime, relying on my 10-year-old-logic, I decided to teach the raccoon a few tricks---mainly how to stand up and roll over.  No one had ever told me that raccoons are not always friendly to humans.  I stuck my hand into the cage to give him a friendly pet, and he nearly chewed my hand off before I could pull it away.  I still carry a small scar on my left wrist where he bit me.

The moral of this story is simple:  there are many animals, including human animals, that will bite you, especially if you try to pet them.

For example, over the past year, I’ve come to believe there may be an unnamed chief executive in our government and his congressional accomplices located somewhere on the East Coast who consistently display strong “raccoon‑like behaviors.

So, stay on high alert.  We could be run down and nipped at any moment by a roaming pack of human racoons.  Try not to pet them, particularly if they are seen in the area of the Oval Office.