Are you more optimistic or pessimistic?

 I sway slightly towards pessimism, but I've been making efforts and have swayed more towards optimism; it's been a great experience to learn from my SO who is predominantly an optimist. I think balance is optimal. Too pessimistic and you become a cynical, tunnel-visioned, asshole that no one likes to be around because you can never see good in anything - but always pointing out what's WRONG. Too optimistic and you can become an impractical dreamer and start to ignore reality, causing potential missteps or wasted time.

It's easy for the INTJ to focus on the bad/reality of things, every pessimist I've met will call themselves a realist to rebrand or deny that reality. It's our comfort zone to be critical of everything, but sometimes it's just not applicable or wanted/needed and we need to learn to search for the good even if it's not immediately apparent to us. For me personally, I like to be around fun-loving people who don't take things too seriously and don't judge others too critically.

In my experience, pessimism tends to shut down new ideas, new experiences, or things that are different. Optimism tends to encourage spontaneity, change, and entertain new theories. I've really started to enjoy the company of more optimistic people and have shifted my perspective to try to be more optimistic because I feel it indirectly helps to address a lot of the INTJ weaknesses and forces me out of that comfort zone.