Pessimism is the belief that reality is evil, either predominantly or essentially and totally. The pessimist puts the least favourable construction on actions and events, and views life as basically futile. Human nature is weak and evil and an individual's capacity for improvement small or nonexistent. Pessimism usually leads to one of the following attitudes: (a) belligerent resentment by human beings of their nature and condition; (b) resignation, for example, the conservatives who reject progress and yearn for a past age; (c) despair and anxiety; and (d) people oriented toward the next world.
Current pessimism is seen in the spread of trend predictions, which have the effect of being self-defeating and self-fulfilling prophesies.
In 1994 a survey of teenagers in 27 countries noted that those in the wealthier countries, especially in northern Europe, were unusually pessimistic concerning their future and felt less capable than other groups of changing the status quo.