It’s a common form of psychological self-defense — preparing for disappointment so when it arrives the blow isn’t as harsh. But does it really work? Researchers think not.

Psychology professors at Seattle Pacific University and University of Washington, Seattle put the theory to the test with surprising results. They first assessed 80 college students for their general outlook on life (bright or gloomy) and then gave them a set of moderately difficult word-association puzzles. The students were then asked to estimate how well they would do on a second set of problems.

Those who predicted failure felt worse when they made mistakes than those who expected to do well, but made similar errors. The study — published in Cognition and Emotion — suggests that people who are generally unhappy and who expect poor results from the tasks they tackle, may keep themselves in a cycle of misery, while those who have a more positive outlook on life, can maintain that feeling even when they stumble.

This looks like another angle on the “glass half full, glass half empty” theory of optimism vs. pessimism, but I wish the researchers had considered a third option: those of us who don’t expect to fail and don’t expect to succeed, but who expect to accept whatever the results may be.

[via Nature]