dispositional optimism and pessimism

Question 1

what is dispositional optimism and pessimism

Answer 1

chronic positive or negative expectations for the future

• optimists think good things will happen to you
• pessimists think bad things will happen to you
• has implications for behavior and exists on a continuum

Question 2

what does research show about optimism vs pessimism and what is it similar to

Answer 2

research shows most people are optimistic
ex. optimistic bias: people expect nothing bad will happen to them (smokers)

this is similar to self-esteem, those with low self-esteem are just below the midpoint (not very low self esteem)
-people are just “less optimistic”

Question 3

what is explanatory style

Answer 3

one’s habitual way of explaining good and bad things that happen in life
-not what actually happens that matters, but how we explain events

Question 4

explain of optimistic vs. pessimistic explanatory style (ES)

Answer 4

glass half full vs. half empty, amount of water is the same but there are differences in how you explain it

Question 5

what does optimistic vs. pessimistic explanatory style (ES) vary along

Answer 5

3 attribution dimensions (all on continuum)

1) internal vs. external
2) stable vs. unstable
3) global vs. specific

Question 6

explain internal vs. extermal

Answer 6

• whether or not a person believes they have control over events
• similar to LoC
• internal = person has control, external = person has no control (both can be good depending on if event that occurred is good/bad)

Question 7

explain stable vs. unstable

Answer 7

• refers to whether a person believes an event will stay the same or subject to change
• both can be good depending on if event is good/bad

Question 8

explain global vs. specific

Answer 8

• if someone’s explanation for an event generalizes beyond the specific event at hand
• both can be good/bad depending on if event is good or bad

Question 9

explain the optimist vs. pessimist diagram

Answer 9

on paper

Question 10

summary of the optimist vs. pessimist diagram

Answer 10

optimists tend to explain good experiences as internal, stable, and global and explain bad experiences as external, unstable, and specific

pessimists tend to explain good experiences as external, unstable, and specific and bad experiences as internal, stable, and global

Question 11

explanatory style and achievement study in athletics

Answer 11

looked at athletes and their response to set backs in relation to explanatory style
-tracked college swimmers, had swimmers compete in races, gave each swimmer negative feedback (slower time), gave them 30 minute rest and had them swim again

Question 12

IV and DV in explanatory style and achievement study in athletics

Answer 12

IV: quasi-IV was assessed explanatory style
DV: swim time following negative feedback

Question 13

results of explanatory style and achievement study in athletics

Answer 13

optimistic swimmers perform better than pessimistic swimmers after failure (no significant difference of 1st swim time)
-so, optimistic explanatory style is related to achievement (may related to how optimists vs. pessimists respond to setbacks- external, unstable, specific vs. internal, stable, global)

Question 14

explain research on explanatory style and achievement in school

Answer 14

• research in general shows students with optimistic explanatory style tend to do better in classes than students with pessimistic explanatory style (even after controlling for academic ability)
• found in studies with college students and elementary school students (these students with optimistic explanatory style had better grades and performance on standardized tests)
• motivation in the face of setbacks

Question 15

exceptions to the relation between optimistic explanatory style and achievement?

Answer 15

• there are times where focusing on failure and discounting success may help improve performance
  ex. longitudinal study with law school students

Question 16

explain the longitudinal study with law school students

Answer 16

assessed explanatory style and performance in law school (GPA and publications)
-expecting to find optimistic explanatory style tend to do better, results were contrary to the hypothesis

law school students with optimistic explanatory style performed worse compared to non-optimistic counterparts

Question 17

explain the results of the longitudinal law school study

Answer 17

in some situations (ex. demanding academics) a more cautious approach might be more beneficial

• good attorneys can see all the negatives/pit falls in life
• not thinking one good test is stable could be beneficial

Question 18

explanatory style and mental health?

Answer 18

pessimistic ES is associated with depression

Question 19

what is the problem with the association between pessimistic ES and depression

Answer 19

correlation does not equal causation, not sure which one leads to the other (likely a feedback loop, they both affect one another)
-researchers cannot randomly assign people to different explanatory styles (so it is hard to do a real experiment)

Question 20

what is the solution to the problem with the association between pessimistic ES and depression

Answer 20

researchers tend to do longitudinal students

• identify explanatory styles of those who are not already depressed and follow them throughout life to see who is more likely to become depressed
• these studies show pessimistic explanatory styles are more likely to become depressed, usually in response to negative events

Question 21

can optimistic ES be taught

Answer 21

positive psychologists would say yes (because of CBT)

Question 22

explain cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)

Answer 22

there are three components in CBT: thought, emotion, and behavior
-each of the three components influence each other

the goal of CBT is to change how someone thinks

• make thoughts more positive
• change the negative thoughts that are distortions