Half Empty, Half Full, The wrong Answer Will Cost You — Dave’s Diary

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I’m not a fan of cynical people. Some folks' default button is set on the isms –- pessimism, negativism, bummerism. They just aren’t pleasant to be around, and now research shows it doesn’t pay to always see the glass half empty.In the study, German researchers had participants answer questions about how inherently good they thought their fellow participants were. The scientists then grouped participants by how much "cynical distrust" they had. They discovered the most cynical group had lower annual incomes compared to more positive, trusting people. (We might be tempted to call that “just desserts”!)

Study co-author, Dr. Daniel Enlebracht explains cynical people are, for example, less likely to accept help from co-workers, which can hurt their chances of working with new people and therefore thwart their chances of climbing up the corporate ladder.

The good news: If you're a cynic and your co-workers are actually not trustworthy, you're probably not missing out. However, there's a lot of research that shows most people can indeed be trusted and you can adjust your outlook, with effort, to be more optimistic over time. (Men's Health)