Defeatism

Defeatism is acceptance of defeat without struggle. In everyday use, defeatism often has negative connotation and can be linked to pessimism in psychology. However, it may also be used in a neutral or positive sense. For instance, if something inevitable and bad is occurring in the future, it may be less emotionally damaging to maintain a defeatist attitude and focus on other things rather than to worry and become anxious. The term is commonly used in the politics and especially in the context of war to denote treason: a soldier can be a defeatist if he or she refuses to fight because he or she thinks that the fight will be lost for sure or that it is not worth fighting for some other reason. Again in connection with war, the term is used to refer to the view that defeat would be better than victory. The term can also be used in other fields, like politics, sport, psychology and philosophy.