Test who are you an optimist or a pessimist. Optimist and pessimist. What are their differences? Which view of the world is better?

We easily call our acquaintances optimists or pessimists. But did you know precise definition of these words? How does one’s view of the world affect the state of the body and a person’s performance? It is worth noting that it is difficult to give an exact formulation to the two concepts, so we will describe these terms using comparison.

Differences between an optimist and a pessimist

To understand the difference in concepts, it is worth considering the main differences between an optimist and a pessimist:

Positive people enjoy life.

Life is easier for such people because they notice the positive in every moment. They are happy about the new day, always in a pleasant mood, and attract people to them. An optimist shares his love of life with others.

Pessimists are known for constantly decreasing their own happiness. They believe that you cannot show joy because something negative will happen. For this reason, a pessimist believes that being happy is contraindicated. Dealing with such people is draining and exhausting. They are always dissatisfied with something: either the salary was lowered, or there is no work, or they are being laid off everywhere, etc.

These are two opposing views on life. Some people are always unhappy with something, while others are happy about all the little things. And here it does not depend on how rich or successful a person is, but on how he relates to this.

An optimist is energetic and ready to work.

Optimistic people have many advantages: their energy is in full swing, they take initiative, are not so susceptible to depression, and the results of their work are more impressive. Pessimists, in turn, are quickly blown away by failure and fall into depression. Optimists are successful in work, study, and on the personal front.

Experts say that the expectation of negativity, which is characteristic of a pessimist, is stress, especially with a busy schedule. Every person encounters a situation when the work is too difficult and they give up. The future path depends on behavior in such a situation: to the ability to work or the inability to do something, to success or failure. Optimism provides support in work and increases the ability to overcome the feeling of emptiness.

Optimists have better professional success, which is reflected in professional aptitude tests.

Optimists take failures lightly.

Optimists attribute all their high achievements to themselves. That is, they believe that this is their merit, they take it for granted. And failures are attributed to coincidences: bad luck, it didn’t work out, it’s not my fault.

Pessimists do the opposite. Success for them is a coincidence of circumstances, luck, the will of chance. They are sure that they will not be so lucky again. They attribute failures to their own account: this is how it should be, it’s my fault. But pessimists often blame others for personal failures.

Health depends on your outlook on life.

Which improves health and increases life expectancy. A positive outlook and optimistic thinking even change the proportions of substances in the blood. Endorphin hormones, which are released in the brain, affect the immune system; they change the amount of cortisol, which increases resistance to diseases. It turns out that the immune system works with redoubled force.

And there is only constant pessimism. This causes excessively high production of adrenaline and cortisol. The first causes an increase in blood pressure and viscosity. The second creates fat deposits.

These conclusions of the researchers are confirmed by experiments. In 1997, a study of 700 patients with various heart problems took place in Denmark. Experiments show that negative people are 70% more likely to survive a heart attack, and the chance early death exceeds the optimists' rate by 60%.

A study by doctors involving 1,250 volunteers who survived a myocardial infarction is also interesting. The researchers divided people into 3 groups: “moderately sad,” “extremely sad,” and “cheerful.” After 10 years, the following mortality data were found:

“too sad” - 50%;
“moderately sad” - 42%;
“cheerful” - 35%.

In addition, during an experiment in which 100 Harvard graduates participated for 35 years, it was found that negatively-minded individuals are distinguished by the fact that they do not give up bad habits so often and get sick more often. Optimists tend to take the future into their own hands.

A few words in defense of the pessimist

Be that as it may, it is worth saying a few words in defense of the pessimists. They can boast that they do not overestimate their own capabilities, and therefore are better at predicting their own successes and failures.

Positive people look into the future only through pink glasses. They view life as evidence of their own progress and a list of successes. They do not pay attention to pressing issues, even if they are life-threatening.

Experiments have found that negatively minded people have better intelligence than optimistic people. They can more accurately assess the possibilities of their own control over the problem than optimists. Experts believe that pessimists are wiser.

Not long ago, psychologists found out that the fashion for positivity goes too far. Of course, optimistic views have many advantages, but also negative sides available. A one-sided view does not provide an adequate vision of the entire situation. People live one day at a time and don’t think about the future. Carelessness is the first fruit of foolish optimism. We all need a little bit of pessimism in order to have a sober understanding of life.

However, optimism is in many ways superior to pessimism, but it has disadvantages. Pessimists must learn to enjoy little things, and optimists must learn to adequately assess reality.

How to become an optimist

If you want to achieve success, but a pessimistic attitude stops you, then the question will be interesting to you. Pessimism usually doesn't help much in life.

As it became clear from the above, optimists can boast of better health and well-being. They live active life, are not susceptible to depression and bad habits. It is possible to develop such qualities in yourself, but not immediately. Set a goal and follow it. There are several options for dealing with a pessimistic attitude:

Stop complaining.

Shifting to optimism begins with noticing how you describe negative and positive things. The more often you express dissatisfaction with fate, the more it becomes a reality. Stop complaining tirelessly about low wages, about life, about politicians, about criminals, about the crisis, about failures. Build your life the way you want.

Positive thoughts and actions.

Start consciously doing what optimistic people do naturally. Think positively. It's not easy at first. Repeat it like this. As you practice, you will notice that your inner pessimist becomes smaller.

Create a program for yourself. No one is better at convincing you than yourself. Don't remember the past, don't regret what you've done. Do everything with self-confidence, even when you don’t feel confident in your abilities. Changing behavior will change your attitude and views, and strengthen your self-confidence.

Practice positive thinking.

Almost everyone knows what affirmations and visualizations are. The use of such techniques helps to get rid of pessimism.

Change your attitude towards failure and success.

Learn to withstand the blows of fate. Pessimists are always looking for someone to blame for their own failures; they either blame everyone or themselves. Optimists accept failure as a given. Failures happen, there is nothing terrible about it. It is better to solve problems rather than cry over them. Change your own attitude towards failure.

Live for life.

Pessimistic people justify their own unsuccessful lives by a lack of goals. , a busy person will not find time for boredom and blues. In addition, learn how to properly plan your own time.

Find something you enjoy: a new job or hobby. Work takes away 1/3 of people's lives, therefore it should bring pleasure and satisfaction. Remember to rest. This is a great option to gain positive impressions.

Choose positive friends.

Communicate with optimists, reduce communication with pessimists to a minimum. Our view of the world adapts to the views of others. And if you only communicate with whiners, then where do you get a good mood?

Do breathing exercises.

Scientists have found that optimists even breathe differently. Breathing through the nose is carried out according to the law of polarization. Thus, when you inhale, positively charged ions enter the lungs through right nostril. And negatively charged ones are mostly through the left. Throughout the day, close the nostril on the right side a couple of times, breathe only with the left for a minute. This will help you model a positive person.

And a couple more tricks. To maintain a positive mood, take care of yourself. Sport is an excellent factor that has a positive effect on the ability to work and mood. , even to yourself.

Meditation will help you restore your strength and get into a positive mood. It is important to relax properly, only in this case meditation is beneficial. Another option for getting rid of a negative mood: remember a pleasant event, relive it in your thoughts. We all have happy memories.

Listen to the classics more. Researchers have found that classical music has a positive effect on mood, develops memory and social skills. Get rid of negativity before going to bed, because otherwise unpleasant thoughts will live in your head all night. And this will cause a negative mood in the morning.

And remember that a pessimistic view of the world is just a habit that you can easily get rid of if you change yourself. But this is accessible to those who truly change, forgetting about pessimism.

Hooray, abstract topic! Optimist, pessimist, realist and indifference– these 4 personality types that I want to talk about today are very different from each other. And I propose to analyze them in more detail, to determine characteristic features, and draw conclusions about which of these types you should strive for and why. Looking ahead, I will say that drawing such conclusions is, in fact, not at all easy. But first things first…

There are many discussions and debates about these four personality types, jokes and aphorisms are even written about them, and there are many tests to determine your type. What is the difference between an optimist and a pessimist, a realist and a don’t care? Very brief and in simple words this can be expressed with a simple example:

A pessimist sees a dark tunnel. An optimist is the light at the end of the tunnel. The realist is the light at the end of the tunnel, and the train coming towards him from there. The person who doesn't care also sees the train, but he doesn't care.

Or another example. An optimist sees the glass as half full. Pessimist - that the glass is half empty. The realist sees exactly half a glass of water. Nobody cares how much water is in the glass.

Here is the simplest test to determine who you are: an optimist, a pessimist, a realist or a don’t care? Just one question:

These 4 personality types project a similar vision onto a variety of situations, processes, and areas of their life. Let's look at this in more detail.

Who is an optimist?

Optimist is a person who looks at life, its processes, phenomena with a positive vision of the future. Among all the possible outcomes of a certain event, he sees the most successful, the most promising. “Everything is good, but it will be even better!” - Here life motto optimist.

As a rule, an optimist is defined as the most best type individuals from these four. Psychologists and trainers teach us to be optimistic, explaining it as follows.

Thoughts are material, and what a person thinks about is what he attracts to himself. If he thinks about good things, he will attract good things, and life will turn out better. He will think about the bad - accordingly, on the contrary.

Yes, of course, there is a rational grain in this. I myself wrote a whole article about how important it is. However, there is also a significant drawback to optimism.

An optimist always underestimates risks or completely neglects them. And as a result of making decisions based on your optimism, and not common sense, often suffers some losses. Including financial ones.

We can say that an optimist looks at life with rose-colored glasses.

Who is a pessimist?

Pessimist is a person who looks at life, its processes, and phenomena with a negative vision of the future. Among all possible outcomes of an event, he sees the worst. “Everything is bad, but it will get even worse!” - this is the life motto of a pessimist.

The same psychologists claim that it is bad to be a pessimist, why - I already wrote above. However, pessimism also has back side medals.

A pessimist is overly cautious and attentive. Since he foresees a negative outcome of the event, he will do everything possible to protect himself from negative consequences. Pessimists are reinsurers, and in certain areas this can be regarded as positive quality. Again, incl. and in financial matters.

We can say that a pessimist looks at life with dark glasses.

Who is a realist?

Realist is a person who looks at life, its processes, phenomena with a real, most accurate vision of the future. Among all the possible outcomes of an event, he sees the one that is most likely to happen, no matter whether it is positive or negative. A realist, unlike an optimist and a pessimist, analyzes the situation without emotions, relying on a cold mind and sober calculation.

We can say that it’s not bad to be a realist, because they choose best option and make fewer mistakes than others. But this also has its downsides.

In the lives of most people, and indeed in the world around us, negative events predominate. And a realist really sees this, that is, in fact, he perceives the situation as a pessimist. Therefore, he is largely characterized by all the shortcomings of a pessimist.

We can say that a realist looks at life using ordinary glasses to improve vision.

Who is this nonsense?

Don't care- this is a person who looks at life, its processes, phenomena with indifference. He doesn’t care what the outcome of the event will be, he doesn’t worry and doesn’t experience any emotions about it. "Come what may!" - that’s the motto of a person who doesn’t care.

Quite a few people are of the opinion that among these four personality types, those who don't give a damn have the best life. Simply because they don’t worry about every little thing, nothing worries them, doesn’t make them angry, doesn’t irritate them, doesn’t make them angry. Those who don't care live a calm, measured life, without really thinking about whether they are making the right decision or not.

I also believe that in certain situations not giving a damn is best position. But not in all of them! And this type of personality can also have significant shortcomings.

Those who don't give a damn have the hardest time achieving anything in life because they don't strive for anything. A person who doesn't care will never make it outstanding personality, as a rule, this is the so-called “gray mass” floating with the flow.

And now that I have briefly described all 4 personality types - optimist, pessimist, realist and indifference, let's try to draw a conclusion: who is best to be? And this is exactly the case when I personally do not have such an unambiguous conclusion.

I believe that a person should combine the qualities of an optimist and a pessimist, a realist and a don’t care, and, depending on the situation, take one position or another. It will be best this way.

For example, I most likely have a predominant realist approach. At least that's how I see myself. At the same time, you can find qualities of all other personality types in me.

And who are you? Optimist, pessimist, realist or don't care? And, in your opinion, who is best to be and why? Write your opinion in the comments, I think it will be interesting.

I say goodbye to you, Best wishes. Subscribe to our public pages at in social networks to quickly track the release of new publications. See you at!

Test result

Optimist

An optimist is a person who, even when between two troubles, always makes a wish.

You are the person who charges those around you with your positive energy. Very often, people enter your social circle just to bask in the rays of your positivity. You perceive any problems as temporary difficulties and always sincerely believe that everything will work out and will be even better! You are intolerant of people around you who like to exaggerate. Do you think that life should be lived only in a positive mood or not lived at all!

People around you love you, and many sincerely envy your easy-going nature.

Test result

Pessimist



“A pessimist sees difficulties in every opportunity, an optimist sees opportunities in every difficulty” W. Churchill.

A pessimist is a person who turns a positive into two negatives. Pessimistic people are always tuned in to a bad outcome, even when nothing foretells trouble.

Most often, a pessimist leads a secluded life, he has very few or no friends. At the same time, this outcome of the matter does not bother him at all, because a pessimist knows that in this world one cannot trust anyone.

Communication with a pessimistic person makes people feel indignant and want to say goodbye to this person as soon as possible. Dejection, melancholy, detachment, belief in the worst are the faithful companions of a pessimist.

In order not to completely fall into the abyss of his own experiences and eternal disappointments, a pessimist should certainly surround himself with optimists or, at worst, realists. Both will balance his picture of the world, without completely painting the whole world with dark colors.

If you feel that debilitating blues and an eternally bad mood have become your eternal companions, immediately seek help from a specialist.

Test result

Realist



A pessimist complains about the wind. An optimist hopes for a change in the weather. The realist sets sail.

Prudence, excellent self-control, the ability to always control the situation are your indispensable companions. In any confusing, strange and often incomprehensible situation, you know how to find the only correct solution. Looking at the world through rose-colored glasses or, conversely, exaggerating things is definitely not your habit. Your realism always helped you out, even if you found yourself in the most delicate situations.

You hate it when people begin to explain obvious phenomena, guided by theories of magic and esotericism.If you make any mistake or mistake, then carefully analyze the situation and try to do everything to prevent this from happening in the future.

It is possible that sometimes you would like to be more reckless and frivolous. But eventually you realize that you just couldn't live with it.

You never let people get close until you have "tested their strength." Those who don't deserve your trust will never be there for you. You are constantly in search of that ideal state in which you would like to be in this life. You don't like careless, careless, lazy, reckless people.

Your exceptional intellectual abilities and your attitude towards reality leave no doubt that in life you will most likely achieve success in your chosen profession.

Optimism (from Latin Optimus - “best”) - the tendency to see in everything in life the good side, believe in success and in a successful outcome of something.

Pessimism is a gloomy, joyless outlook on life, a tendency to see everything in a gloomy light; sad mood.

In essence, optimism and pessimism are two sides of the same coin: the front, bright and joyful, and the back - gloomy and gray.
However, in explanatory dictionary There is another important term - realism. It denotes the ability to clearly understand and realistically evaluate the surrounding reality when implementing something.
An optimist and a pessimist are two extremes, between which lies the birth point of a realist.
Realism comes when the expectation of good and bad in a person comes to a certain state of balance.

Which view of the world is better?

There is an opinion that the most The best way perception of the world is optimistic.
After all, who is an optimist? This is someone who never loses heart, sees only the good sides in everything, does not think about the worst, and is able to find positive aspects in any trouble.

The importance of optimists in our lives cannot be overestimated: employers love them for their ability to forgive bullying, and for the fact that they calmly treat overtime and never escalate the situation. Colleagues - for their kindness and mutual assistance. Neighbors - for a calm atmosphere in the house. Our psyche cannot stand discomfort and tries with all its might to avoid it, so an optimist is a person whose communication evokes positive feelings. While a pessimist is the type of personality that everyone runs away from like fire: a quarrelsome, bilious, eternally dissatisfied subject, capable of ruining anyone’s mood with complaints.
If you characterize a person, the word “optimist” immediately tells the interlocutor a lot due to his positive outlook on life.

The dangers of excessive optimism

Few people think that an overly rosy view of the world can be even more dangerous and unpleasant for the optimist himself than the gloomy perception of reality by a chronic pessimist.

Often optimism goes hand in hand with kindness and a reluctance to create conflict situations, argue, defend your point of view. This means that such a person, being offended or finding himself in an unpleasant situation due to someone else’s fault, will forgive everything instead of demanding compensation from the one who is to blame. And, if in everyday life this only harms the optimist himself and his family (“Did the neighbors flood? Why fight with them, we’ll restore everything at our own expense”), then at work it can result in serious troubles for the entire organization.

An optimist, unlike a pessimist, can underestimate the situation, hoping for a good outcome, and if something unpleasant happens, he will be confused.

A pessimist is ready for trouble, and therefore has a plan for the worst. bad option developments of events, but the optimist finds himself face to face with misfortune, the possibility of which he did not even think about - it simply never occurred to him that everything could be so bad!

Pessimism has its positive sides

Who is a pessimist, according to the majority? A loser who, due to his bad character and eternal discontent, has no friends.

This is true only for the most persistent, most “ideological” pessimists, a textbook example of which can be considered a mechanic named Philidor Zeleny from Kir Bulychev’s stories about Alisa Selezneva. His immortal phrases: “This will not end well!” and “But I warned you!” can be called a reflection of the negative side pessimistic view.

However, there are also conditionally “moderate” pessimists, which means that there are people who see not the whole world in black, but only its individual parts.
The definition of the term itself suggests that a pessimist is someone who constantly expects meanness and misfortune from the world. And this is where his strength lies.

A true pessimist always remembers: no matter how much you hope for a successful outcome of events, the probability of an unsuccessful outcome is much higher, and in order to minimize the damage, you should, while hoping for the best, always prepare for the worst.
Therefore, a pessimist who strives for self-improvement does not have to try to change his outlook on life - sometimes it is enough to develop his strengths(anticipating troubles and preparing for them) and learning to cope with negative ones.

The third side of the coin is the perfect rib

Realism has many meanings: for some it means a dry businessman who methodically calculates how to profitably evaluate this situation, while others believe that an interesting extreme is better than a boring, even middle.
In reality, being a realist means recognizing that any situation can turn out in either a good or bad direction; that life is multifaceted and does not provide ready-made answers; You can’t constantly expect troubles, but you shouldn’t hope only for joys either, so as not to be deceived.

A realist looks at the situation evenly and reasonably, makes decisions based on the actual state of affairs. He does not console himself with the thought that “tomorrow will be better,” but he also does not spoil his mood with thoughts about the troubles that may follow good luck.

Realism allows you to soberly evaluate those around you, your own actions, not go too far when making decisions, and makes it possible to show flexibility depending on the situation: a realist, without being tied to one extreme or another, has the opportunity to choose the type of his own reaction.

Where for a pessimist there is almost no water in the glass, and mentally he is dying of thirst, afraid to take a sip; but for the optimist there is still a lot of water, and he will die after finishing the water in one gulp; a realist will clearly calculate how quickly he can allow himself to empty his glass so as not to be left a fool.

Optimist and pessimist - where is the guarantee of happiness?

The meaning of the word "optimist" is in no way related to the word "optimal", and this should be clearly understood: yes, people with a benevolent outlook on the world are pleasant and liked, but this does not mean that they always do everything right or are happier than rest.

Happiness is such a weightless concept that even the most positive outlook on life will not guarantee that you will receive this very thing at your personal disposal as payment for a smile, good nature and the ability to regard troubles as something positive.

At the same time, a constant expectation of failures, an iron readiness for them and a plan for the most scary cases life in the same way does not guarantee that straw placed on all sides will protect you from troubles.

Both optimists and pessimists - all these people are capable of making mistakes, not foreseeing something, not anticipating something, or underestimating something. Even realism doesn't guarantee happy life However, self-improvement gives a greater chance that such changes will not pass without a trace, and this inspires hope for the best.
After all, a person who has smoothed out the rough edges of his character and developed his strengths always has more friends, he exudes harmony, he evokes a positive response in the souls of those around him, and makes both himself and others happy. Who knows, maybe this is precisely the essence of happiness?

Theses from Gestalt therapist and coach Evgeniy Zhidkov about pessimism, optimism, and realism:

It is believed that success is a union of ability and desire. If something doesn’t work out for a person, it means there is a lack of ability or little desire. But, having everything you need, it is easy to fail by being a pessimist.

Optimism is not a blind belief that everything will be fine (that is, rather, idiocy).

The main thing in optimism is belief in the ability to influence a situation and change it for the better. Mature optimism breeds persistence and the search for opportunities - qualities that play a more significant role than talent and desire taken together. That's why optimists strive best results in school, work and personal life.

Optimists face the same challenges as pessimists, but they overcome them more easily. They are characterized by persistence and belief in their ability to change situations for the better. Optimists are calmer about problematic situations and consider them a temporary phenomenon that can be overcome. They recover soon after defeat and, like a cat that always stands on all fours, get up and continue moving.
Thanks to these qualities, optimists achieve great success in work, study, sports and personal life. They have better health and longer life expectancy. Pessimists, even when everything is fine for them, are tormented by premonitions of disaster.

Optimism and pessimism are not innate

These are styles of thinking that are learned. This is a skill that can be constantly improved. It cannot be passed on by inheritance, but it is worth instilling in your children.

To the question “Are you an optimist or a pessimist?” It is fashionable to proudly answer “I am a realist.”
I mean, I'm the smartest, and I'm the one who sees reality as it is. Napoleon complex. This is complete nonsense.

You can’t choose realism between pessimism and optimism, just as you can’t choose between red and blue balloons choose black shoes. Or to the question “Warm or cold?” answer “Salty!” The parameters are different.
Realists - who are they? Those who are more grounded in reality. However the way you experience reality and evaluate results depends on whether you have an optimistic or pessimistic view of what is happening.

Both positions, taken to extremes, are always idiocy. But even he cannot be neutral. It will be either manic delirium or depressive delirium.

Realism is the ability to think clearly. Not a style of perceiving reality which are optimism and pessimism.

So, stop hesitating, choose a side!

Pessimism is at the core of helplessness

Helplessness is such a nasty state for an adult in which any of your actions are not able to influence what is happening.
Often, it arises not from circumstances, but from our way of thinking. And such helplessness can be learned.

That's what he did with the dogs. Don't worry, everyone survived.
The dogs were divided into three groups. In the first group, the dogs received electric shocks (weak, unpleasant, but not fatal) and could not influence the situation in any way. For some time they were active, running and trying to find a way out, but then they lay down on the floor and just lay there.

In the second group, the dogs received an electric shock, but were able to turn it off. And the majority found this method quite quickly. I love dogs, they are smart animals after all.

In the third, they did nothing with the dogs, they just sunbathed in the sun.
In the second part of the experiment, dogs from all groups were placed in an enclosure with a current, but a low partition that could be jumped over. The dogs from the second and third groups quickly discovered this loophole, but the first group continued to lie on the floor and whine, despite the opportunity to escape. They learned helplessness, which they demonstrated even when the situation changed.

This kind of reaction doesn't only occur in dogs. We observe the results of experiments on humans in Everyday life. Yes, yes, such experiments are carried out all the time - remember your childhood.

Pessimists who defend their right to realism are actually subject to bouts of learned helplessness. This matter is fixable, as further experiments showed.

What is the danger of pessimism

Pessimism is fertile ground for depression. Most reliable way Getting stable depression comes down to the formula: initial pessimism + failure.

Cognitive behavioral therapy(CBT) is considered the most effective in treating depression. This direction is based on the fact that the cause of depressive symptoms should be sought solely in a person’s pessimistic perception of himself, the events happening to him and his future.

Pessimism is seen as an erroneous style of thinking based on various violations of logic. For example, pessimists put a minus not only where it should be, but also where they should put a plus.

CBT does not exclude the use of antidepressants, but considers work on correcting thinking style to be the main factor in sustainable relief from depression.

Here characteristic errors inherent in the pessimistic style of explanations of bad events:
Personality – “It’s entirely my fault”
Immutability - "It seems like it will always be like this"
Comprehensiveness - “It’s about to destroy every aspect of my life.”

Optimism has nothing to do with forcefully interpreting everything from a positive point of view. Optimism is a more accurate perception of reality, freed from logical errors.

There are special techniques aimed at identifying erroneous conclusions. Their result is the ability to think more realistically, allowing one to find ways out of situations that previously seemed insurmountable. Hope appears. Increases self-confidence and general improvement well-being. All these are bonuses of an optimistic style of information processing.

Pessimists consider an optimistic view to be divorced from reality, thereby equating their own vision with realism. Optimists are kind of fools, and pessimists are kind of smart.

Indeed, sometimes the beliefs of optimists are based on possibilities that are not fully confirmed. But, after all, most pessimistic thoughts come down to relying on the worst possible options. And not because they are justified, but precisely because they are so bad.
When none of the approaches guarantees reliability, it makes sense for a pragmatic person to choose the one that at least improves mood and adds energy.

How do you know if you are an optimist or a pessimist?