Biases in social comparisons: Optimism or pessimism?

Social comparisons typically lead to two kinds of biases: A comparative optimism bias (i.e., a tendency for people to view themselves as more likely than others to be the beneficiaries of positive outcomes) or a comparative pessimism bias (i.e., a tendency for people to view themselves as less likely than others to be such beneficiaries); rarely are people fully calibrated in terms of how they compare to others. However, there is little systematic research on the factors that determine when a comparative optimism versus pessimism bias will occur, how they can be attenuated and whether such attenuation is always desirable. In this paper, we report four studies which demonstrate the following key results: First, we show that perceived level of control over the outcome drives whether a comparative optimism or pessimism bias will occur (Study 1). Second, an increase in perceived similarity between self and a comparison target person attenuates the comparative optimism bias in domains that people view as highly controllable (Study 2a) and attenuates the comparative pessimism bias in domains that people view as less controllable (Study 2b). Finally, we show that people are willing to work harder when they experience more comparative optimism in higher control scenarios and when they experience less comparative pessimism in lower control scenarios, illustrating that motivating people to strive harder for positive outcomes can result from exacerbated or attenuated bias, depending on the context (Study 3).     

Charisma attribution during organizational change: the importance of followers' emotions and concern for well‐being

Taking a follower‐centric perspective, we examined how charisma attribution to a change leader was influenced by the well‐being concerns and emotions of organizational members. We conducted three studies to examine how college business students and Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) students responded to a grading policy reform aimed at reducing grade inflation. We found that emotions and well‐being concerns such as school year and grade point average influenced charisma attribution by the undergraduate students and that there was a greater divergence of emotional reactions and charisma attribution among undergraduate students than among the executive MBAs. Future directions for follower‐centric leadership research on charismatic leadership are discussed.     

Optimism for the World’s Future versus the Personal Future: Application to Environmental Attitudes

Optimism and pessimism for the future have been widely studied, but little is known about distinctions among types of optimism. In the present work optimism for the personal future and optimism for a more global world’s future were shown to be related yet distinct variables among responses from 156 undergraduate students. Furthermore, World Optimism predicted lower levels of pro-environmental attitudes (the New Ecological Paradigm) whereas Personal Optimism did not after its shared variance with World Optimism was removed. Personal Optimism (but not World Optimism) was associated with Consideration of Future Consequences, a measure of locus of control, and other measures of optimism and pessimism. Discussion addresses this distinction and its implications for understanding environmental attitudes and other individual differences.     

Unrealistic Optimism and Positive-Negative Asymmetry: A Conceptual and Cross-cultural Study of Interrelationships between Optimism,Pessimism, and Realism

Using a variant of Weinstein's (1980) technique for the measurement of unrealistic optimism, subjects were classified as optimistic, realistic, or pessimistic about their chances of being confronted in the future with problems such as divorce, nervous breakdown, etc. On the basis of previous theory and research on cognition and affect, it was hypothesized that, across problems, subjects would alternate optimism with realism rather than with pessimism. Cross-cultural data obtained from 19 samples of Belgian, Moroccan, and Polish subjects not only confirmed the hypothesis but also showed high agreement about the nature of the problems that were selectively associated with optimism, realism and pessimism.     

Anticipating the inevitable: When leader and member attribution styles clash

This article supported the hypothesis that leaders’ and members’ attribution styles have interactive effects on members’ perceptions of the quality of their leader–member relations. Across two samples, results revealed an interactive effect such that members’ perceptions of poor leader–member relations were most accentuated when they were biased toward external and unstable attributions (i.e. optimistic attributions) for their negative outcomes, while their leaders were biased toward attributing negative outcomes to the internal and stable characteristics of the members (i.e. pessimistic attribution styles). In Study 2, results indicated that the members’ perceptions of distributive and procedural justice mediated the interactive effects of leader pessimism and member optimism on relationship quality.     

受欺负与青少年外化问题关系的“健康环境悖论”：敌意性归因的中介作用

“健康环境悖论”是指在总体受欺负水平较低的环境中, 受欺负的个体会表现出更多适应问题。本研究以来自47个班级的1764名5年级到8年级学生为被试(男生956人, 平均年龄14.46岁), 考察了班级平均受欺负水平在个体受欺负经历与外化问题间的调节作用及敌意性归因的中介作用。结果发现：(1)受欺负与外化问题的关系存在“健康环境悖论”现象, 即班级平均受欺负水平能调节个体受欺负经历与外化问题的关系, 在班级平均受欺负水平较低的班级中受欺负经历与外化问题的关联更强; (2)班级平均受欺负水平对受欺负与外化问题的调节作用通过敌意性归因的中介作用实现。本研究证实了受欺负与外化问题的健康环境悖论现象, 并首次揭示了敌意性归因的中介作用机制。     

Children's attributions for peer victimization: A social comparison approach

A social comparison framework was used to examine the relations between children's attributions for victimization and adjustment. In Study One, 192 nine-to ten-year-old children were asked why someone may pick on them. Results revealed attributions reflecting five causes of victimization that could be reliably sorted by direction of social comparison: (a) jealous peer (downward), (b) mutual antipathy (horizontal), (c) being different from each other (horizontal), (d) personal behavior (upward) and (e) being uncool (upward). Children's responses were used to create an attribution measure that was administered to 206 eight-to eleven-year-old children. Results were consistent with the social comparison hypothesis such that peer jealousy was uniquely associated with lower levels of loneliness and greater acceptance whereas personal behavior and not being uncool were correlated with greater loneliness and lower perceived acceptance and self-esteem. Findings supported the usefulness of a social comparison framework for understanding associations among attributions and adjustment.     

Cognitive and affective variables as predictors of life satisfaction

This work shows the association between personality variables, such as cognitive and affective variables, and psychological adjustment, such as life satisfaction and depressive symptoms. Accordingly, this study assessed the role of outcome expectancies (optimism and pessimism) and affectivity (positive and negative affect) as a predictors of life satisfaction and depressive symptoms. A total of 458 students from the University Rovira i Virgili completed the scales LOT-R, PANAS, the Satisfaction with Life Scale and BDI. Path analysis results suggest that affectivity variables are more important to predict life satisfaction and depressive symptoms than outcome expectancies. Implications for future research are discussed.     

Pessimism moderates negative emotional responses to naturally occurring stress

Repeated experiences with stress and negative emotion (NE) can decrease psychological and physical well-being. Ruminating on stressful events can further prolong NE responses, especially for those who are pessimistic. For three days participants (N = 68) reported hourly on their current stress, rumination, perceived control, and NE. Tests of mediation conducted using multilevel modeling suggested that rumination mediated same-time reports of stress on NE, and predicted perpetuation of NE over time. Tests of moderated mediation indicated that the pathways from previous stress to rumination, and from rumination to current NE were moderated by pessimism, but not optimism. Perception of control also accounted for some of the variability between concurrent stress and NE, though these associations were not affected by pessimism.     

Is dispositional optimism or dispositional pessimism predictive of ideal cardiovascular health? The Young Finns Study

Objective: We examined the independent association between dispositional optimism compared to dispositional pessimism and ideal cardiovascular health (defined by the American Heart Association).

Design: A prospective design with a study sample of 1113 participants aged 24–39 years from the longitudinal Young Finns Study.

Main outcome measures: Ideal cardiovascular health (comprised of seven ideal cardiovascular health metrics) was measured in 2001. The ideal cardiovascular health metrics were reassessed in 2007.

Results: Low pessimism rather than high optimism was a better predictor of ideal cardiovascular health in 2007. When examining the association between optimism and pessimism and the seven ideal cardiovascular health metrics in 2007 (BMI, diet, physical activity, smoking status, blood pressure, total cholesterol and plasma glucose), low pessimism predicted non-smoking status, ideal physical activity and eating a healthy diet, while high optimism was associated with eating a healthy diet.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that low pessimism rather than high optimism is associated with ideal cardiovascular health, especially with health behaviours such as not smoking, being physically active and eating a healthy diet. Socio-economic status was the potential mediating or confounding factor. Future studies should examine the differential meaning of the optimism/pessimism concepts to further clarify their relation to health outcomes.     

领导者对员工主动行为的心理与行为反应

员工主动行为因有利于个人和组织的长远发展而受到学界和业界的广泛关注。以往的研究主要关注主动行为对员工本人的人际内影响, 而较少考虑对领导者的人际间影响; 同时, 考虑到员工在领导过程中扮演的重要角色, 对员工的主动行为如何影响领导的心理与行为反应做理论性整理将极大丰富对员工主动行为的认识。学界基于归因理论、内隐追随理论、自我-他人评价一致性理论等对上述自下而上的影响过程进行了初步探索, 发现领导者对员工主动行为的态度评价和行为反应受到多重边界条件的影响。未来研究可具体化员工主动行为所诱发的领导者心理与行为反应, 探索员工主动行为与领导方式的循环关系, 以及深挖主动行为与绩效评价之间的内在机理。     

A constructivist analysis of the Rotter I-E scale1

A conception of locus of control attribution was advanced as an alternative to the generalized expectancy view presented by Rotter. That alternative stems from regarding the individual as actively constructing a pattern of specific choice consequence relations out of his/her ongoing experience. An integration of structural and factor approaches was used to analyze the Rotter I-E scale. The structural analysis categorized items on four dimensions (focus, area, self-attribution and world attribution) and indicated that the I-E scale unevenly represents the domain it encompasses. Nevertheless, specification of that structural matrix helps to provide a more comprehensive framework for interpreting I-E response patterns of 216 high school juniors and seniors. For example, male responses cohered around asserting active control over tasks hut attributing control to external sources with regard both to personal issues and to more abstract systems-related issues. Females organized their senses of self-efficacy with a central theme being that of a passive agent stance, plus an expectation that circumstances would provide equality of opportunities to which they could respond. Thus the present approach has demonstrated its utility in interpreting I-E findings and its conceptual advantage for personality research on locus of control and on similiar attributional characteristics.     

Bracing for loss

People find unexpected bad news aversive and often brace themselves by predicting the worst. Three experiments examined whether the pessimism is influenced by personal need. Students who differed in financial need learned that a billing error meant that some students would receive an additional bill from their university. Financially needy students were consistently pessimistic in predicting their likelihood of receiving a bill, whereas non-needy students were not. In addition, the experiments reveal that (a) the pessimism occurred for potential losses but not potential gains, (b) needy students were pessimistic about their own chances but not the chances of a friend, (c) the pessimism was not attributable to needy students' being more readily primed by the news of a possible bill or to needy students' having more experience with billing errors, and (d) the pessimism was specific to monetary losses and did not generalize to other events.     

The Relationship of the Marlowe-Crowne Scale and its Components to Defensive Preferences

Two lines of recent research have interpreted the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MC-SDS) as a measure of either need to avoid social disapproval or need to protect and maintain vulnerable self-esteem. In addition, it has been suggested that two component (Attribution and Denial) scores derived from the MC-SDS are differentially related to defensiveness. The present study tested several hypotheses regarding the relationship of the MC-SDS and its components to relative preference for five classes of defensive responses, as measured by the Defense Mechanisms Inventory. Results among females best supported a disapproval-avoidance interpretation of the MC-SDS. while no support was found for the proposed differential validity of the attribution, and denial components. Support for such differential validity was, however, obtained among males. Results for this group suggest that high denial component scorers will opt for protecting vulnerable self-esteem even in the face of possible social disapproval, while high attribution scorers are primarily concerned with avoiding such disapproval. Implications for use of the MCSDS and its components as measures of defensiveness are discussed and suggestions for additional research are presented.     

The relationship of the Marlowe-Crowne Scale and its components to defensive preferences

Two lines of recent research have interpreted the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MC-SDS) as a measure of either need to avoid social disapproval or need to protect and maintain vulnerable self-esteem. In addition, it has been suggested that two component (Attribution and Denial) scores derived from the MC-SDS are differentially related to defensiveness. The present study tested several hypotheses regarding the relationship of the MC-SDS and its components to relative preference for five classes of defensive responses, as measured by the Defense Mechanisms Inventory. Results among females best supported a disapproval-avoidance interpretation of the MC-SDS. while no support was found for the proposed differential validity of the attribution, and denial components. Support for such differential validity was, however, obtained among males. Results for this group suggest that high denial component scorers will opt for protecting vulnerable self-esteem even in the face of possible social disapproval, while high attribution scorers are primarily concerned with avoiding such disapproval. Implications for use of the MCSDS and its components as measures of defensiveness are discussed and suggestions for additional research are presented.     

Who is more proactive,the optimist or the pessimist? Exploring the role of hope as a moderator

This research tested the existence of a moderation role of hope on the effects of optimism and pessimism over proactive coping in a sample survey of 343 subjects. The results showed that optimism explained proactive coping, independent of hope. However, hope appeared to moderate the relationship between pessimism and passive coping, a criterion variable that emerged from the psychometric analysis of the proactive coping measure. Specifically, for individuals low in pessimism, being high or low in hope did not impact coping, but for individuals high in pessimism, having higher levels of hope reduced passive coping. A deeper analysis also indicated that this was particularly due to the moderating role of the pathways dimension of hope. We discuss these results in light of different adaptive strategies of optimists and pessimists and draw implications for psychological research and practice.     

Figure-background segregation and the formation of illusory figures

Three experiments were carried out to test the relationship between figure-background segregation and illusory contours. Illusory figures are believed to arise as byproducts of figure-background segregation. When, in a scene, part of what should be the background becomes an illusory figure, a mechanism of contour attribution favoring the area in which the illusory figure appears takes place. This mechanism is prevented from operating when the attribution of the contour is inhibited by the presence of "groupable" (connectable) contours. Spatial proximity is one of the factors affecting such grouping: the closer the connectable contours, the more likely is their grouping in a single unit and the less likely is the emergence of an illusory figure. Experimental results showed that the illusory effect was established when contours were prevented from being connected. This outcome is interpreted as evidence that a mechanism of contour attribution is effective in the formation of illusory figures.     

Interracial Contact in South Africa Within the Nursing Context1

Previous research on the effect of intergroup contact has highlighted the necessity for the contact to be of equal-status within a supportive environment. The South African apartheid system, with its active discouragement of such contact, presents an interesting context in which the effect of inter-racial contact may be examined. One hundred and thirteen nurses from four private hospitals took part in the study. Two of the hospitals had racially integrated training programs, and two trained one race group alone. A number of questionnaires were administered to the nurses in individual interviews. The responses indicated that nurses from the contact hospitals viewed the integration of nursing significantly more positively than did the nurses from the noncontact hospitals. However, trait evaluations of the nurses own and corresponding race group on the dimensions, personality and work ability suggested that negative intergroup attribution had not been eliminated by the contact.     

Dispositional pessimism but not optimism is related to sickness absence caused by musculoskeletal symptoms

Musculoskeletal disorders account for a higher proportion of sickness absence from work in the European Union than any other health condition. The present study examined the associations between work environment, dispositional optimism/pessimism and medically certified sickness absence caused by musculoskeletal complaints in a sample of employees from the Norwegian Armed Forces (N = 1190, 77.5% men). Dispositional pessimism, but not optimism, predicted the amount of absence also when taking into account the effects of age and the work environment. Overall, our results support previous studies suggesting that pessimism is a more salient predictor of physical health than optimism. Our results also suggest that it may be beneficial for employers to combine medical treatment of musculoskeletal symptoms with psychological treatment targeting pessimistic outcome expectancies in order to reduce the amount of sickness absence.     

Moderating effects of attributions on the relationship between emotional dissonance and surface acting: a transactional approach to health care professionals' emotion work

Based on a transactional model of stress, this study aims to understand the role played by attributions in selecting surface acting as emotion regulation strategy when coping with emotion‐rule dissonance. A sample of primary health care professionals (n = 87) based in Madrid filled in a questionnaire. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to test hypotheses on the moderating effects of attributions on the relationship between emotion‐rule dissonance and surface acting. Results showed that high levels of attribution to patients of responsibility for negative events, low levels of professionals' self‐accountability, and low attribution of being able to promote a positive change strengthen the positive association between emotion‐rule dissonance and surface acting. This could explain why professionals use a potentially damaging emotion regulation strategy.