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Show LET'S TALK ABOUT yoiL I BY CHARLES B. ROTH Why Be a Negative? There art some persons too many, I am forced to declare who live under the handicap of a personality per-sonality that has a negative tinge. In psychology we recognize them as a definite and an unpleasant group. We classify them. We name them. We call them negatives, and the disease from which they suffer for it Is really a chronic mental state of unheal'Ji we call negativism. negativ-ism. A person with a negativistic personality per-sonality always is ready to argue the other side of the question. You make a statement. He says: "Oh, I don't know about that. Listen." And then the battle Is on. For an exhibition exhibi-tion of downright contrariness, the negativistics always are on hand. They do not really know that they handicap themselves by this trait. To the contrary. They are proud of their bold, contrary attitude. They will tell you it is a sign of courage and strong will. All of which Is piffle. A negativistic tendency, far from being a sign of strong will and In telligence, Is definite evidence of an adult who hasn't grown up and who Is dumb in the bargain! Dr. M. M. Reynolds, careful observer ob-server of human traits, made a study of negativism in babies. It begins to appear at the age of six months, he found. Then it gradually subsides. Intelligent children exhibit negativism negativ-ism less than dull children. Wherever it persists, it is a sign of deficient intelligence and a mind that won't grow up. And to have negativism if not a thing of which to be proud. Closely akin to negativism Is a commoner trait. We call it stubbornness. stubborn-ness. One-third of us are born stubborn, stub-born, grow up stubborn, die stubbornto stub-bornto the everlasting damage of our personalities. For like negativism, negativ-ism, stubbornness is a sign of mental deficiency and inadequacy. The stubborn stub-born person isn't strong; he is merely mere-ly weak; he is afraid that if he gives in, yields a point, he never again will be able to climb back to the same degree f vantage. Therefore he sits tight If you have negativistic or stubborn stub-born tendencies, don't give up heart You can get over both. Just examine your own mental outlook. Do you find yourself taking the opposite side of questions? Do you find yourself holding your ground when there is no reason for it, no need of it? Then guard against both these tendencies of yours. Watchfulness you must exercise. But you can win if you try. And you must win, because be-cause no negative, no stubborn personality per-sonality was ever a successful, a likeable or a charming personality. |