dispositional optimism and pessimism Flashcards
what is dispositional optimism and pessimism
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
what does research show about optimism vs pessimism and what is it similar to
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”
what is explanatory style
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
explain of optimistic vs. pessimistic explanatory style (ES)
glass half full vs. half empty, amount of water is the same but there are differences in how you explain it
what does optimistic vs. pessimistic explanatory style (ES) vary along
3 attribution dimensions (all on continuum)
1) internal vs. external
2) stable vs. unstable
3) global vs. specific
explain internal vs. extermal
- 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)
explain stable vs. unstable
- 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
explain global vs. specific
- 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
explain the optimist vs. pessimist diagram
on paper
summary of the optimist vs. pessimist diagram
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
explanatory style and achievement study in athletics
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
IV and DV in explanatory style and achievement study in athletics
IV: quasi-IV was assessed explanatory style
DV: swim time following negative feedback
results of explanatory style and achievement study in athletics
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)
explain research on explanatory style and achievement in school
- 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
exceptions to the relation between optimistic explanatory style and achievement?
- there are times where focusing on failure and discounting success may help improve performance
ex. longitudinal study with law school students
explain the longitudinal study with law school students
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
explain the results of the longitudinal law school study
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
explanatory style and mental health?
pessimistic ES is associated with depression
what is the problem with the association between pessimistic ES and depression
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)
what is the solution to the problem with the association between pessimistic ES and depression
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
can optimistic ES be taught
positive psychologists would say yes (because of CBT)
explain cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
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
