Effect of anxiety on optimism

A quasi-experimental study was designed to investigate the possibility that people's optimism is reduced if they experience a specific form of negative affect, namely, anxiety. The level of optimism held by two groups of English students toward a range of life events was examined. Students taking examinations, the experimental group, were in an anxious state. Students who had completed their examinations, the control group, were less anxious. Those in the anxious group were less optimistic about the likelihood of both negative and positive events happening to them than were those in the control group. They were also less optimistic about the likelihood of events happening to others and of events happening to them in comparison with others. It was concluded that negative affect in general, and anxiety in particular, may have a global effect upon optimism: It may reduce optimism toward a broad range of judgments.     

Cultural differences in unrealistic optimism and pessimism: the role of egocentrism and direct versus indirect comparison measures

Recent research has raised questions regarding the consistency of unrealistic optimism and related self-enhancing tendencies, both within cultures and across cultures. The current study tested whether the method used to assess unrealistic optimism influenced cross-cultural patterns in the United States and Japan. The results showed that the direct method (a single comparison judgment between self and peers) produced similar patterns across cultures because of cognitive biases (e.g., egocentrism); specifically, participants were unrealistically optimistic about experiencing infrequent/negative events but pessimistic about experiencing frequent/ negative events. However, the indirect method (separate self- and peer judgments) produced different patterns across cultures because culturally specific motivational biases emerged using this method; specifically, the U.S. sample was more unrealistically optimistic than the Japanese sample. The authors discuss how these results might influence the interpretation of previous findings on culture and self-enhancement.     

Changes in optimism and pessimism in response to life events: Evidence from three large panel studies

Although individuals vary in how optimistic they are about the future, one assumption that researchers make is that optimism is sensitive to changes in life events and circumstances. We examined how optimism and pessimism changed across the lifespan and in response to life events in three large panel studies (combined N = 74,886). In the American and Dutch samples, we found that optimism increased across younger adulthood, plateaued in midlife, and then decreased in older adulthood. In the German sample, there were inconsistent results with respect to age differences and mean level changes in optimism. Associations between life events and changes in optimism/pessimism were inconsistent across samples. We discuss our results in the context of life events and lifespan development.     

Unrealistic optimism about future life events: a cautionary note

A robust finding in social psychology is that people judge negative events as less likely to happen to themselves than to the average person, a behavior interpreted as showing that people are "unrealistically optimistic" in their judgments of risk concerning future life events. However, we demonstrate how unbiased responses can result in data patterns commonly interpreted as indicative of optimism for purely statistical reasons. Specifically, we show how extant data from unrealistic optimism studies investigating people's comparative risk judgments are plagued by the statistical consequences of sampling constraints and the response scales used, in combination with the comparative rarity of truly negative events. We conclude that the presence of such statistical artifacts raises questions over the very existence of an optimistic bias about risk and implies that to the extent that such a bias exists, we know considerably less about its magnitude, mechanisms, and moderators than previously assumed.     

Social acceptance of comparative optimism and realism

Studies of optimism and realism (the accuracy of people's outlook on the future) seek to understand the respective effects of these elements on social approbation. Two experiments examined how comparative optimism (vs. pessimism) and realism (vs. unrealism) interacted to influence the targets' social acceptance based on their perceptions about the future. The results showed that realism, or accuracy of prediction, increased the positive social effects of a comparatively optimistic outlook on the future. In contrast, targets who exhibited comparative pessimism were more socially acceptable when their predictions were unrealistic rather than realistic. This phenomenon was examined by also considering the polarity of the events about which judgments were expressed. These results contribute to the body of research about the relationship between optimism and pessimism and the relationship between optimism and realism.     

Unrealistic Pessimism

Abstract

Various data suggest that individuals tend to be unrealistically optimistic about the future. People believe that negative events are less likely to happen to them than to others. The present study examined if the optimistic bias could be demonstrated if a threat is not (as it has been researched up to the present) potential, incidental, and familiar, but real, common, and unfamiliar. The present research was conducted after the explosion at the atomic power station in Chernobyl, and it was concerned with the perception of threat to one's own and to others' health due to consequences of radiation. The female subjects believed that their own chance of experiencing such health problems were better than the chances of others. Thus, in these specific conditions, unrealistic optimism was not only reduced but the reverse effect was obtained: unrealistic pessimism.     

Optimism, pessimism, and change of psychological well-being in cancer patients

Whereas most previous studies have assessed optimism/pessimism as a unidimensional construct, there is increasing awareness that optimism and pessimism may represent two partially independent dimensions. In this study, the role of optimism and pessimism for the maintenance of psychological well-being was assessed in 161 newly diagnosed cancer patients. Before the start of chemotherapy, more positive affect balance was associated with higher optimism and lower pessimism. Over the course of 9 months following diagnosis, pessimism predicted negative change in affect balance, whereas no effect of optimism appeared. Higher levels of perceived side-effects of chemotherapy were associated with negative change in affect balance. However, an interaction effect of perceived side-effects with pessimism indicated that this was only the case in patients with above-median levels of pessimism. The conclusion is drawn that it may be more important to be less pessimistic than to be optimistic when diagnosed with cancer.     

What is unrealistic optimism?

Here we consider the nature of unrealistic optimism and other related positive illusions. We are interested in whether cognitive states that are unrealistically optimistic are belief states, whether they are false, and whether they are epistemically irrational. We also ask to what extent unrealistically optimistic cognitive states are fixed. Based on the classic and recent empirical literature on unrealistic optimism, we offer some preliminary answers to these questions, thereby laying the foundations for answering further questions about unrealistic optimism, such as whether it has biological, psychological, or epistemic benefits.     

Accuracy, error, and bias in predictions for real versus hypothetical events

Participants made predictions about performance on tasks that they did or did not expect to complete. In three experiments, participants in task-unexpected conditions were unrealistically optimistic: They overestimated how well they would perform, often by a large margin, and their predictions were not correlated with their performance. By contrast, participants assigned to task-expected conditions made predictions that were not only less optimistic but strikingly accurate. Consistent with predictions from construal level theory, data from a fourth experiment suggest that it is the uncertainty associated with hypothetical tasks, and not a lack of cognitive processing, that frees people to make optimistic prediction errors. Unrealistic optimism, when it occurs, may be truly unrealistic; however, it may be less ubiquitous than has been previously suggested.     

Dispositionai Optimism as a Protective Factor in Resisting HIV Exposure in Sexually Active Inner-City Minority Adolescents1

Recent investigations have explored dispositional optimism as a determinant of various health-related behaviors, though such research has been infrequently conducted in populations where pessimism would be expected to be prevalent. The present study examines optimism and unsafe sexual behavior in 230 sexually active inner-city minority adolescents. Findings suggest that dispositional optimism is a protective factor regarding adolescents' intentions to avoid engaging in unsafe sex. Further, the benefits of optimism appear to be explained by those who are more optimistic having higher levels of perceived condom use self-efficacy and stronger negative expectancies toward unsafe sex. Future interventions may need to address optimism in concert with behavioral-specific determinants to increase the probability of reducing unsafe sexual behavior in high-risk populations.     

Comparative optimism about health and nonhealth events in 8- and 9-year-old children.

Comparative optimism has been studied extensively in adults and is a significant component of social- cognitive models about health. In contrast, little is known about comparative optimism in children or about the wider social- cognitive processes that underpin their health-related behavior. This study investigated comparative optimism for health- and nonhealth-related topics in 101 children 8 or 9 years of age, the youngest ages that have been investigated so far. Children were shown to be unrealistically optimistic for health and nonhealth events. The implications of these findings for understanding comparative optimism in children are discussed.     

The measurement of optimism and pessimism

Procedures employed in the development and validation of a new Optimism & Pessimism Scale are described, and information about test-retest reliability is reported. Internal consistency analyses and other data suggest that optimism and pessimism are not polar opposites and bring up questions about the intrerelatedness of the cognitive and affective realms. The magnitude of the correlation between pessimism and measures of anxiety suggests a link between this measure and the Negative Affectivity construct, and the potential relationships among optimism, pessimism, the Pollyanna Principle, and Positive and Negative Affect are discussed. Conceptually, it appears that optimism and pessimism may aid in psychological defense by helping to bind anxiety. This report was based on theses submitted separately by the second and third authors to the Division of Graduate Studies and Research of the University of Cincinnati, both in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts degree.     

Religiosity,health, and psychopathology in two cultures: Kuwait and USA

To explore the associations between religiosity, health, and psychopathology, samples of 460 Kuwaiti and 274 American college students were recruited. Religiosity, pessimism, anxiety, obsession-compulsion, death obsession, and ego-grasping were significantly higher among the Kuwaitis than among their American counterparts. On the other hand, self-ratings of mental health and optimism were significantly higher among the Americans than their Kuwaiti counterparts. Religiosity was significantly and positively associated with ratings of physical health, mental health, and optimism (both countries), and negatively with pessimism, anxiety, suicidal ideation, and ego-grasping (Kuwaitis), and pessimism and suicidal ideation (Americans). A factor analysis of the correlational matrix yielded in both countries two independent factors labeled “Normality vs. psychopathology”, and “Religiosity, health, and optimism”. Backward multiple regressions revealed that the main predictors of religiosity were mental health, optimism and physical health positively, and obsession-compulsion and ego-grasping negatively in Kuwaitis; and optimism positively and anxiety, and suicidal ideation negatively in Americans. By and large, those who consider themselves as religious were more healthy and optimistic, and obtained lower scores on psychopathology in both countries.     

Personality through metaphor: Optimism, pessimism, locus of control, and sensation seeking

In two experiments, several personality attributes evident in metaphors people use to describe everyday experiences were examined. Subjects either generated (Experiment 1) or endorsed (Experiment 2) a metaphor that represented their views about six facets of their lives (e.g., work, relationships, graduating). In self-generated metaphors, content analyses of the metaphors revealed that attributes of optimism (e.g., looking forward to the future) and pessimism (e.g., cynicism) were significant components of metaphor content. Also, modest relationships were found between the themes of optimism contained within their metaphors and scores on an optimism scale of a questionnaire designed to evaluate the optimistic and pessimistic orientations. In a second study, subjects endorsed how strongly preselected metaphors represented important aspects of their lives. These preferences were significantly related to their scores on an optimism/pessimism instrument and a locus of control inventory. These results support the notion that metaphors, like other creative productions, may prove a useful vehicle for studying personality characteristics. They also provide evidence for the construct validity of the optimism and pessimism questionnaire.     

Personality through metaphor: Optimism,pessimism, locus of control,and sensation seeking

In two experiments, several personality attributes evident in metaphors people use to describe everyday experiences were examined. Subjects either generated (Experiment 1) or endorsed (Experiment 2) a metaphor that represented their views about six facets of their lives (e.g., work, relationships, graduating). In self-generated metaphors, content analyses of the metaphors revealed that attributes of optimism (e.g., looking forward to the future) and pessimism (e.g., cynicism) were significant components of metaphor content. Also, modest relationships were found between the themes of optimism contained within their metaphors and scores on an optimism scale of a questionnaire designed to evaluate the optimistic and pessimistic orientations. In a second study, subjects endorsed how strongly preselected metaphors represented important aspects of their lives. These preferences were significantly related to their scores on an optimism/pessimism instrument and a locus of control inventory. These results support the notion that metaphors, like other creative productions, may prove a useful vehicle for studying personality characteristics. They also provide evidence for the construct validity of the optimism and pessimism questionnaire.     

Psychological resources, positive illusions, and health

Psychological beliefs such as optimism, personal control, and a sense of meaning are known to be protective of mental health. Are they protective of physical health as well? The authors present a program of research that has tested the implications of cognitive adaptation theory and research on positive illusions for the relation of positive beliefs to disease progression among men infected with HIV. The investigations have revealed that even unrealistically optimistic beliefs about the future may be health protective. The ability to find meaning in the experience is also associated with a less rapid course of illness. Taken together, the research suggests that psychological beliefs such as meaning, control, and optimism act as resources, which may not only preserve mental health in the context of traumatic or life-threatening events but be protective of physical health as well.     

Automatic Optimism: Why People Assume Their Futures will be Bright

Why are people optimistic about their futures, continuously assuming that their futures will be full of the positive outcomes they desire and devoid of negative outcomes? This paper concerns the proposal that desire, represented as affective reactions to potential future events, causes optimism for the future. We propose that positive or negative affective reactions to future events innervate motivations to approach or avoid the events. These motivations can be satiated by judging that events that elicit positive affective reactions are likely to occur and events that elicit negative affective reactions are unlikely to occur. The tendency to be optimistic thus results from emotional processes that occur largely outside of conscious awareness. We discuss recent evidence that supports these propositions, the import of understanding optimism as the result of emotional processes for judgment and decision research as well as attempts to improve decision‐making, and remaining unresolved issues.     

Optimism and pessimism as predictors of change in health after death or onset of severe illness in family.

The authors prospectively examined changes in health after a major life event (death or onset of severe illness in family) among 5,007 employees (mean age=44.8 years) whose optimism and pessimism levels were assessed in 1997 and major life events in 2000. Health was indicated by sickness absence days during a period covering 36 months prior to the event and 18 months after the event. Increase in sick days after the event was smaller and returned to the prevent level more quickly among highly optimistic individuals than among their counterparts with low optimism. Parallel changes were not observed in relation to pessimism. These findings suggest that optimism may reduce the risk of health problems and may be related to a faster recovery after a major life event.     

The measurement of optimism and pessimism

Procedures employed in the development and validation of a new Optimism & Pessimism Scale are described, and information about test-retest reliability is reported. Internal consistency analyses and other data suggest that optimism and pessimism are not polar opposites and bring up questions about the intrerelatedness of the cognitive and affective realms. The magnitude of the correlation between pessimism and measures of anxiety suggests a link between this measure and the Negative Affectivity construct, and the potential relationships among optimism, pessimism, the Pollyanna Principle, and Positive and Negative Affect are discussed. Conceptually, it appears that optimism and pessimism may aid in psychological defense by helping to bind anxiety. This report was based on theses submitted separately by the second and third authors to the Division of Graduate Studies and Research of the University of Cincinnati, both in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts degree. For reprints of the article or copies of the Optimism & Pessimism Scale, please direct requests to William N. Dember, Department of Psychology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio 45221.     

国外防御性悲观研究述评

防御性悲观是指在过去的成就情境中取得过成功,但在面临新的相似的成就情境时仍然设置不现实的低的期望水平并反复思考事情的各种可能结果。它的两个基本成分是消极期望和反思性。国外相关研究主要涉及防御性悲观与乐观、抑郁及自我妨碍等相关概念的比较,并探讨了导致防御性悲观的形成的个人情感动机因素及文化、家庭环境等因素。未来研究可在被试的选择、测量工具的编制和研究范围等方面加以改进,并加强跨文化比较研究