Nihilism: Beyond Optimism and Pessimism

Studies in Philosophy and Education - Is the youth culture, or more precisely aparticular kind of it, to be characterized as “nihilistic”? And is this a threat or ablessing for...     

Optimism, Pessimism, and Motivation: Relations to Adjustment

The present work reviews the literature examining connections involving the key constructs of optimism and pessimism with motivation and adjustment. We review historical and conceptual models of optimism and pessimism. We then examine how these central constructs have been linked to both adaptive and maladaptive motivational processes and outcomes in the empirical literature. How cultural factors may impact the function of optimism and pessimism is also discussed. We end with a brief discussion of emerging issues that would be useful to examine in future research on optimism and pessimism.     

Systemic Optimism — Systemic Pessimism: Two Perspectives on Change

Therapists have a mandate to bring about change, and family therapists appear to have unusual leverage to fullfill such a mandate, that is, to facilitate changes rapidly and effectively. Because and in spite of this mandate, the very notion of change deserves critical reflection. The history of ideas and our clinical experience teach us that changes may be problematic. They may come too fast or too slowly, may endure or fade away, may turn out to be desirable or undesirable, equitable or inequitable, and may, when further consequences and larger systems levels are taken into account, be beneficial or disastrous. This essay examines some of the problematical and contradictory aspects of change and delineates two perspectives on change--systemic optimism and systemic pessimism.     

The Role of Optimism/Pessimism in HRQOL in Chronic Hepatitis C Patients

One hundred and twenty three outpatients with compensated chronic hepatitis C (CHC) completed the SF-36, BSI, and questions regarding the expected impact of CHC on their health. Respondents were categorized as optimists (N = 17, 13.8%), realists (N = 98, 79.6%), and pessimists (N = 8, 6.5%). Pessimism was associated with lower scores on nearly all SF-36 subscales (p < .001 –.03) and higher scores on 6 BSI subscales indicative of greater emotional distress (p < .05). Pessimism was not associated with demographics, liver disease severity, substance abuse, or comorbid medical conditions. However, pessimism was associated with the presence of a psychiatric comorbidity and self-reported health status (p < .05). We conclude that optimism/pessimism may be an important determinant of QOL and emotional status in CHC patients and that additional studies of cognitive predispositions and coping skills in CHC patients are warranted.     

结果的接近性和不同等级分界线对反事实思维的影响

反事实思维是个体对不真实的条件或可能性进行替换的一种思维过程.它是在心理上对已经发生的事件进行否定,然后表征原本可能发生但现实并未发生的心理活动.本文以170名大学生为被试,采用情境模拟技术,研究结果的接近性和不同等级的分界线对反事实思维及满意度的影响.实验一表明,结果接近分界点较结果远离分界点时,被试产生的下行反事实思维要多.当结果的效价为成功时,更易引发反事实思维.实验二发现上行反事实思维随成功的等级变化而呈整体上升趋势,个体对结果的满意度随成绩的增加而上升.     

A Two-Factor Model of Defensive Pessimism and Its Relations With Achievement Motives

The author first examined the underlying factor structure of the defensive pessimism construct and its relations with achievement motives. The author used a sample of 542 Singaporean undergraduate students and found that defensive pessimism is a 2-factor construct that comprises (a) negative expectation, in which individuals worry about possible pitfalls, and (b) reflectivity, in which individuals put forth efforts to prevent possible pitfalls. Then, the author used a sample of 160 Singaporean undergraduate students for Study 2, which supported the proposed model in which mastery predicted the reflectivity factor of defensive pessimism, competition predicted the negative-expectation factor of defensive pessimism indirectly through the mediation of fear of shame, and negative-expectation factor predicted the reflectivity factor of defensive pessimism because, for the defensive pessimists, the act of worrying helps them to respond to their anxiety by initiating the planning process to direct efforts to prevent potential disasters.     

Dispositional Optimism/Pessimism and Coping Strategies: Predictors of Psychosocial Adjustment of Rheumatoid and Osteoarthritis Patients1

Because rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has a more unpredictable course than osteoarthritis (OA), we hypothesized that generalized expectancies (optimistic/ pessimistic) influence the psychosocial adjustment of RA patients, whereas disease severity influences the adjustment of OA patients. Path analysis (LISREL VI) revealed that pessimistic RA patients (N= 107) and the more physically disabled OA patients (N= 108) reported poorer adjustment. The hypothesized mediating role of coping was supported for the RA but not the OA sample; that is, pessimism was associated with poor adjustment through greater use of wishful thinking coping. Unexpectedly, problem-solving coping was not found to mediate the optimism adjustment relationship.     

Defensive Pessimism,Anxiety, and the Complexity of Evaluating Self‐Regulation

Defensive pessimism is a motivated cognitive strategy that helps people manage their anxiety and pursue their goals. Individuals who use defensive pessimism set low expectations, and play through extensive mental simulations of possible outcomes as they prepare for goal‐relevant tasks and situations. Research on a variety of phenomena, from self‐handicapping to stereotype threat, demonstrates the potential effectiveness of defensive pessimism as a self‐regulation strategy. Review of this research provides an illustration of the complexity of self‐regulation efforts, because understanding how and why defensive pessimism works requires an integrated understanding the role of traits, motivations, and self structures within the individual, the resultant goals toward which strategies are directed, and the particular constraints of different situations and cultural contexts.     

Dispositional Optimism and Physical Well-Being: The Influence of Generalized Outcome Expectancies on Health

This article explores the implications that dispositional optimism holds for physical well-being. Research is reviewed that links optimism to a number of different positive health-relevant outcomes, ranging from the development of physical symptoms to recovery from coronary artery bypass surgery. Additional findings are described which suggest that these beneficial effects are partly due to differences between optimists and pessimists in the strategies that they use to cope with stress. A number of other potential mediators are also discussed, including some that are physiologic in nature. The article closes with a discussion of the relationships between our own theoretical account of the effects of optimism and several other conceptual approaches.     

The Bitter-Sweet Labor of Emoting: The Linguistic Comparison of Writers and Physicists

ABSTRACT: In this exploratory archival study, the motivation of writers of fiction and physicists was examined by studying word usage as a clue to unconscious motivators of their work. The hypothesis was that artists make art to deal with issues in their own lives, thus relying on emotions, particularly negative emotions (markers of presence of issues), to govern their work. Consequently, it was predicted that distinguished writers of fiction, as compared to distinguished physicists, would use more emotion-related words when discussing their work, particularly negative emotion-related words. Interviews conducted with 9 physicists were matched to the interviews with 9 writers, and analyzed using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) program (Pennebaker, Francis, & Booth, 2001). Writers used significantly more emotion-related words, in particular more negative-emotion words, including the greater use of anger-related, anxiety-related, and depression or sadness-related words. Almost identical results were obtained when the 9 physicists were compared to the nonmatched, larger sample of 124 writers. The study implies differences of inner preoccupation (relating to work) between creative people oriented towards literary art and physical science.     

Conceivability,Counterfactual Thinking and Philosophical Exceptionality of Modal Knowledge

Topoi - According to Williamson (The philosophy of philosophy, Blackwell, Oxford, 2007), our knowledge of metaphysical necessities and possibilities is just a “special case” of our...     

On Becoming What We Might Have Been: Counterfactual Thinking and Self-efficacy

Three experiments examined the hypothesis that, in the aftermath of a performance event, upward counterfactuals reinforce feelings of self-efficacy toward similar future events, whereas downward counterfactuals decrease feelings of self-efficacy. Using a scenario methodology, the first two experiments confirmed this hypothesis: upward counterfactual thinking enhanced feelings of self-efficacy relative to downward counterfactual thinking. In a third experiment, conducted in a more real-world context, upward counterfactuals again led to greater feelings of self-efficacy than downward counterfactuals. However, there were important limiting conditions: the effect of counterfactual thinking on self-efficacy was more or less pronounced depending on both situational and dispositional factors. Whereas the pattern of results provided little support for a self-protection explanation for these limiting conditions, the results were consistent with a depth of processing explanation.     

Leader Positive Mood and Group Performance: The Case of Customer Service

It was hypothesized that leader positive mood would be positively associated with group performance in a service setting. Additionally, it was expected that while leader positive mood would be positively associated with both the leader's level of job satisfaction and job involvement, leader positive mood would be positively associated with group performance, controlling for both leader job satisfaction and job involvement. Leader positive mood also was expected to be positively associated with group performance controlling for group positive affective tone. Two potential antecedents of leader positive mood, the leader's level of positive affectivity and the extent to which the leader's own manager engaged in contingent reward behavior, were hypothesized to be positively associated with leader positive mood at work. These hypotheses were tested among a sample of 53 sales managers who led groups ranging in size from 4 to 9 members. All of the hypotheses were supported. Implications of these results and directions for future research are discussed.     

Conditional Reasoning and Emotional Experience: A Review of the Development of Counterfactual Thinking

What do human beings use conditional reasoning for? A psychological consequence of counterfactual conditional reasoning is emotional experience, in particular, regret and relief. Adults’ thoughts about what might have been influence their evaluations of reality. We discuss recent psychological experiments that chart the relationship between children’s ability to engage in conditional reasoning and their experience of counterfactual emotions. Relative to conditional reasoning, counterfactual emotions are late developing. This suggests that children need not only competence in conditional reasoning, but also to engage in this thinking spontaneously. Developments in domain general cognitive processing (the executive functions) allow children to develop from conditional reasoning to reasoning with counterfactual content and, eventually, to experiencing counterfactual emotions.     

Hope and Optimism: Latent Structures and Influences on Grade Expectancy and Academic Performance

ABSTRACT A synthesized model of trait hope ( Snyder 1994, 2002 ) and trait optimism ( Scheier & Carver, 1985 ) is proposed. In this model hope and optimism are conceptualized as facets of an overarching trait called goal attitude. Structural equation modeling is used to test the plausibility of the proposed model in a sample of 345 students in a university psychology course who completed the Adult Hope Scale ( Snyder et al., 1991 ) and the Life Orientation Test–Revised ( Scheier, Carver, & Bridges, 1994 ). The proposed model shows acceptable fit to the observed data. The synthesized model is used to examine the unique and common influences of hope and optimism on grade expectancy and academic performance in 312 students who completed the course. The results show that hope uniquely influenced students' grade expectancies, whereas optimism did not. In turn, grade expectancies influenced academic performance. Neither hope nor optimism had a unique, direct influence on academic performance. In contrast, the shared aspect of hope and optimism (i.e., goal attitude) had a direct influence on academic performance.     

Development and Validation of the Counterfactual Thinking for Negative Events Scale

We examined the psychometric properties of the newly created Counterfactual Thinking for Negative Events Scale (CTNES) in two studies involving university undergraduates. In Study 1 (N = 634), factor analysis revealed four subscales that correspond with various types of counterfactual thinking: Nonreferent Downward, Other-Referent Upward, Self-Referent Upward, and Nonreferent Upward. The subscales were largely orthogonal and had adequate internal consistency and test–retest reliability. The CTNES subscales were positively correlated with a traditional method of assessing counterfactual thinking and were related as expected to contextual aspects of the negative event, negative affect, and cognitive style. In Study 2 (N = 208), we further examined the validity of the scale and demonstrated that the subscales were sensitive to an experimental manipulation concerning the type of negative event participants recalled. Moreover, the CTNES subscales correlated in the expected direction with measures of coping and cognitive style.     

心境对情绪信息加工的影响

该文考察在自然情境和人为诱发的情境下,心境对不同情绪信息加工过程的影响,验证特质一致性假设。采用实验研究和问卷调查相结合的方法,并以SPSS11.5进行数据处理。结果显示,在自然情境下,心境对于情绪信息加工的影响不是很明显;而在人为诱发的情境下,验证了心境一致性效应。     

Effect on Mood of Thinking About Extreme Emotional Terms

The hypothesis that being asked to think about extreme emotional terms influences mood in the direction of the polarity of the terms was tested in three experiments. Subjects answered items about their mood before and after being asked to think about nine extreme, positive emotional terms (e.g., ecstatic) or nine extreme, negative emotional terms (e.g., wretched). It was found that when subjects were asked to think about extreme, positive emotional terms, mood changed in a positive direction, and when they were asked to think about extreme negative emotional terms, mood changed in a negative direction. The effect on mood of being asked to think about extreme emotional terms did not depend on whether the subjects were asked just to think about the terms(Experiment 1), to think about the terms in relation to the self (Experiment 2), or to think about the meaning of the terms (Experiment 3).     

Electronic Performance Monitoring: A Laboratory Investigation of the Influence of Monitoring and Difficulty on Task Performance, Mood State, and Self-Reported Stress Levels

Increases in the sophistication of workplace computerization has provided modern-day managers with superior tools, such as electronic performance monitoring (EPM), with which to supervise their employees. Expanding on studies by Aiello (e. g., Aiello, 1993), the present study aimed to examine EPM in a social facilitation framework, exploring not only the relationship with task performance and stress, but also with an individual's subjective mood state. Thirty-three female and 15 male university students were required to solve a series of anagrams via a purpose-built computer program. Both the difficulty of the anagrams (easy or difficult) and the presence of monitoring (present or absent) were varied for each participant. Results indicated that the visual presence of EPM resulted in an easy task being performed with greater proficiency and a difficult task being performed with less proficiency. When participants were attempting to solve an easy task, the presence of EPM resulted in a participant's mood state becoming significantly more positive; whereas when solving a difficult task, EPM caused a more negative mood state. Similarly, it was found that a higher level of subjective stress was experienced when EPM was present, as opposed to absent. when individuals were performing a difficult task. The implications for the workplace applications produced by this study are discussed.     

The Effects of Elevated Arousal and Mood on Maximal Strength Performance in Athletes

Optimal arousal models contend that high arousal contributes to inhibited athletic performance, whereas there is reversal theory research which indicates that high positive arousal may enhance performance. To test these claims, 22 male and 6 female elite athletes were induced into high arousal telic (goal-directed) and high arousal paratelic (non goal-directed, process focussed) motivational states and tested on a standard hand strength task. Personalized guided imagery techniques and paced breathing were used to change psychological and physiological arousal. Significant increases in strength performance occurred when arousal was high and experienced as pleasant excitement in the paratelic condition (i.e., high positive arousal). Heart rate and other indicators of parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system activity were not found to mediate between psychological arousal and performance. Where athletic performance requires maximal motor strength over a short period, performance benefits of high arousal may be maximized by restructuring motivational state.