| Abstract: | Though optimism and self-enhancing deception are related, few researchers have tried to disentangle their relations to particular outcomes. Using a person-centered approach and longitudinal data, this paper reports comparisons between defensive and non-defensive optimists. Results suggest that defensive optimists may be less successful at forming intimate, supportive relationships with others over time, relative to non-defensive optimists. Further research should be directed toward understanding both the costs and the benefits of defensive psychological processes and optimism, especially as they may vary across different kinds of outcomes, and different intrapsychic, social, cultural, and developmental contexts. |
