How being cynical might be dangerous on your well being: Expert warns ‘glamorisation’ of detrimental views is ‘harming us’
Being cynical is bad for your health, a leading psychologist has claimed.
Not only are cynics less mentally and physically healthy than positive thinkers – but they also die younger, Dr Jamil Zaki said.
The psychologist, who is a professor at Stanford University, claimed pessimists are more likely to suffer from depression and loneliness as they are ‘cut off’ from the ‘nourishment’ of the social world.
And, he said that despite popular belief that cynics are better at making better decisions, or spotting liars, this is in fact not the case – and so the ‘glamorisation’ of negative views is ‘harming us’.
According to the Oxford dictionary, cynicism is the belief that people only do things to help themselves rather than for good or sincere reasons.
Dr Zaki told the Instant Genius podcast: ‘There are data from many studies finding that cynics die younger than non-cynics.
‘I think if cynicism is cutting us off from the nourishment of the social world.
‘If you can’t be vulnerable to people, if you can’t open up, if you can’t form connections, you lose so much of what makes life beautiful, first of all – but what makes us healthy as well.
Dr Jamil Zaki is a Stanford University psychologist and author. He said not only are cynics less mentally and physically healthy than positive thinkers – but they also die younger
‘I really do think that this is hurting us.’
Dr Zaki said that not only are cynical people worse at making ‘better’ or ‘more accurate’ decisions, but they are also ‘less mentally healthy’.
‘Cynics suffer from more depression and loneliness than non-cynics,’ he added, ‘it also worsens our physical health.’
The psychologist, who is director of the Stanford Social Neuroscience Lab in California, USA, said misanthropists often ‘want more power’ than non-cynical people – but they don’t achieve it.
‘In fact, they achieve it less because it turns out that success is not typically a matter of stepping on our colleagues, on trying to bruise everybody while we climb to the top,’ he continued.
‘Oftentimes, making it to the top is a function of being able to cooperate and build coalitions.
‘So, cynics think that they can succeed by acting in competitive and sometimes cruel ways, but it turns out that their view of success is far too narrow.’
The psychologist said ‘cynicism is spreading’ because we are ‘instilling it in our children’ – and that Generation Z is the ‘most cynical on record’ in the USA.
The psychologist said ‘cynicism is spreading’ because we are ‘instilling it in our children’ – and that Generation Z is the ‘most cynical on record’ in the USA (file image)
‘Research from around the world finds that parents believe that in order to keep their kids safe and help them succeed, they should teach their kids that the world is dangerous and competitive,’ he said.
‘In other words, we want our kids to live better lives than we have.’
But, Dr Zaki said this is a ‘backwards strategy’ and we need to find an alternative.
He said for many people, this negative view of the world is ‘cosy’ and that by escaping it, people will be ‘healthier’ and ‘happier’.
The psychologist added: ‘There’s this sense that if I never expect anything from anybody, nobody can disappoint me.
‘I think that’s a huge source of cynicism is people who have been betrayed and hurt and reasonably don’t want to feel that way again.’
