Are you a glass half full or a glass half empty person?
- Are you living with someone who sees things opposite to you?
- Is your boss a glass half empty person?
- Does your company ethos have a glass half full philosophy?
- A YouDriver’s sister is such a glass half empty person
- At YouDrive we believe that in either case, there’s room for more beer!
Have you ever really thought about it?
Believe it or not it does matter. See Wikipedia’s definition. We can all have different opinions – that is healthy – but it’s important to consider this, especially if we are living together or working with that person every day.
Is it in our DNA or can it be a social thing?
Well, it can be both. Some who have higher levels of positivity / negativity can grow up in a social environment and be suppressed over the years. But as soon as that individual changes that social environment, natural tendencies will come flooding back. Recognising our own style and approach is really important when making our life choices, especially in love, career and family.
Is it in our DNA or can it be a social thing?
Well, it can be both. Some who have higher levels of positivity / negativity can grow up in a social environment and be suppressed over the years. But as soon as that individual changes that social environment, natural tendencies will come flooding back. Recognising our own style and approach is really important when making our life choices, especially in love, career and family.
This videogives an interesting slant on the half full / half empty conundrum.
The fuller and emptier scale
If there was a scale – say 0 to 10 with extreme emptier people at one end, moderates in the middle and extreme fuller people at the other. You may work with someone who is a 3 or 4 and you are 7 or 8. You should find a lot of compatibility in working together, whereas extreme ends of the scale would generally be more difficult.
Should I have a shopping list when I start dating?
When we are dating when never make a shopping list of requirements. Usually we go firstly on visual, then vocal and then personality and so on.
Fundamentally when we are going through life there are emptier and fuller people who look at a situation in different ways. Some of these emptier people annoy the pants off fuller people and vice versa.
Choosing a partner?
Very quickly, even during early dating you can test situations to assess if people are emptier or fuller. But take care because we all have the veneer on show and want to play the best performance card until after the honeymoon period.
At work is the team half emptier or half fuller?
It’s the same as bosses and work colleagues. You take an issue or situation and it’s amazing how you as a cup half full sees the matter whereas the people who are the cup half empty see it totally differently.
Bosses are a different matter altogether. If you have a boss who is an emptier you need to learn the game of adopting your language and approach to them.
Ever noticed in a company how people either love or hate working there? Some stay a year and move on whilst others stay for years. A company can take on its own presence and image. From the Board down it’s like a water cascade and pours down the organisation.
Have you noticed the difference between public and private sector? You can usually spot which sector they work for by their appearance, clothes and demeanour. Very few people make the transition from one to the other and really make a success of it. In fact, public sector companies that become private 20 years later can still have public sector mentality in the workplace.
People who are fuller have two choices when working in an emptier company; leave or adjust. But over time it gets to you and you end up leaving.
From a YouDriver
“My whole family are emptier – no wonder I struggle!
My children are very emptier and seem so negative/ pessimistic. Can I train it out of them? Sometimes with training and social environment individuals can change.”
You may notice your children are also at different ends of the scale.
In this world of split families, the matter can be exacerbated because one parent could be an emptier and the other a fuller in which case the children’s welfare, upbringing and education is very challenging.
Why is it that our children get on better with some teachers and others not?
Learning and education also comes into the equation. If you have a pupil who gets on well with a teacher it could be because they are on the same scale. Alternatively, pupils who hate a teacher may be on the totally opposite scales. Some teachers don’t even recognise their own style whilst most children are too young to know there is just a discord between them. Parents really need to see this and manage the situation.
Mature students who are more aware of their own scale and desire immediately realise what type of lecturer they are dealing with.
Other family members can also come into play in the emptier and fuller scenario.
“My brother is so miserable and negative with nothing positive to say and always looks for the bad in everything”
Or
“My sister is such a fantasist, seeing the good in everyone and over realistic about everything she does.”
Are the media, press and digital media full of emptiers or fullers?
I think this is a really interesting debate but generally I have never met many cup half full journalists or media outlets. They see the cup half empty in most cases.
Our press and media seem to be extreme cup half empty people who relish: scandal, negative images, sensationalism.
Unfortunately it appears most of the media live in a self-perpetuating bubble and think they are doing a valuable job holding people to account and reporting on injustice, but the public don’t share that same opinion.
Humans seem according to research to be more attracted to negative bias. The majority of western media seems to be tarred with the same brush. More and more people are now taking to social media such as YouTube to find out ‘accurate and truthful information’. In fact, many governments and individuals now have their own direct social media feeds to the public, fed up of the media twisting information for their own gain.
We see politicians and celebrities who are exactly the same; Corbyn generally could be seen as a cup half empty person whereas Johnson sees life half full.
Funny isn’t it, that we might not always like their policies but as characters we gravitate towards them.
In Summary
There is an article in verywellmind covering the ‘Negativity Bias‘. You can see your position by yourself some questions:
- Are you more positive or pessimistic that others?
- Do you hate extreme fullers or emptier’s especially those who are in the media or celeb world?
- Can you understand your own characteristics and those of people immediately around you?
- Can you judge where you are on the scale and how extreme you are?
YouDrive thinks…
If you think about it you will immediately see people at both ends of the scale. It’s interesting to see exactly how much these attitudes matter to us over time, especially with people closest to us.
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