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Psych 2BA3 > Positive traits values and attitudes - OPTIMISM > Flashcards

Positive traits values and attitudes - OPTIMISM Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the two optimism traditions?

A

1) Learned optimism (Seligman et al) :Optimism as attributional style

2) Goal expectancy (Carver & Scheier): Optimism as outcome expectancies, after Bandura
• beliefs about the outcome of our behaviour

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2
Q

What is learned helplessness?

what was an example?

A
  • one you Experience inescapable aversive events - then Fail to avoid or escape when it is possible
  • Basis of depression

Dog experiment →
• timed jumps prevent shocks, when theres a barrier that prevents jumping → do not attempt to avoid shock even when the barrier comes down = helpless

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3
Q

What is Learned optimism? What model of optimism is it based on?

A
  • We have control over future outcomes

* Based on model of causal attribution → attribution theory

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4
Q

What are the 3 dementions of causal attribution that differ in optimism vs.pessimism

A

• Internal versus external causes
o external explanations of neg events, internal for pos.

• Stable versus unstable causes
o good events = Stable, negative events = variable/unstable (won’t happen again)

• Global versus specific causes
o neg events = specific (limited to one area) , pos events = Global → something big about me

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5
Q

What are the 3 characteristics of optimistic attributions for negative outcomes

A
  • External causes (Not me, but the outside world)
    • “The test questions were poorly worded”
  • Unstable causes (Something that can change or vary)
    •I’ve done better on other tests
  • Specific causes (Related to this situation only)
    • I do better in other courses
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6
Q

What are the 3 characteristics of pessimistic attributions for negative events

A
  • Internal causes (something about me personally)
    “I didn’t know the material”
  • Stable causes (doesn’t change or vary)
    “I’m not good at school”
  • Global causes (Realted to a wide range of situations)
    “I’m not very intellegent in general”
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7
Q

List the 2 ways of assessing attributes

A

1) (extended) Attributional style questionnaire (ASQ)

2) CAVE (content of verbal explanations)

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8
Q

Explain the Attributional style questionaire

A

• 24 hypothetical life events
• Half about achievement, half about affiliation
> Half are good (You become very rich, A friend compliments you on your appearance)
> Half are bad (can’t find a job, date goes badly)
- Choose one cause and rate it attributionally (external/internal, global/local, stable/unstable)

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9
Q

Explain the CAVE assessment and a case in which it was used (baseball)

A
  • Rate verbal explanations along 3 dimensions
  • Politicians, Sports figures

1985 Mets and Cardinals → statements made for their losses in that season
• Mets: optimistic attributions for losses (External, local, unstable)
• Cards: pessimistic attributions for losses (Internal, global, stable)
• 1986: Mets win World Series; Cards collapse

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10
Q

What are the 3 antecedents of optimism?

A

Genetics
• MZ style more correlated (.48) than DZ style (.00)

Home
• Stable, supportive home = optimistic style as adults
• No relation found b/w parent and child’s style (different from what you’d think)
• Parents attributed child’s failure to external factors

School
• Parental pessimistic style for child behaviour = child works below potential at school
• Teacher praise of stable traits (can’t be changed - intelligence) = more pessimism
• but rather if they praise unstable things like work ethic = more optimistic

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11
Q

List the associates that come along with optimism

A
  • Better academic performance
  • Superior athletic performance
  • More productive work records
  • Greater satisfaction in relationships
  • Better coping with stressors
  • Less vulnerability to depression (depressed people have negative optimistic attribution style)
  • Better physical health
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12
Q

what is goal expectancy? (Carver & cheier) how does it differ from seligmans attribution style?

A
  • Outcome we expect from our behaviour
  • Seligman is past and current experiences → what causes these events
  • Carver & Scheier: expectations for future outcomes (in line with traditional definition of optimism and pessimism)
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13
Q

How do we define optimism in relation to goal expectancy?

A
  • Tendency to believe good rather than bad things will happen
  • Behaviour-outcome expectancies
  • Depression → pessimistic about the past and future
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14
Q

how do we measure for goal expectancy? (LOT-R)

A
  • Life orientation test – revised (LOT-R):
    • 10 statements on 5-point Likert scale from “Strongly Agree” to “Strongly Disagree”
    • 6 test statements, 4 filler items

LOT-R

  • In uncertain times I usually expect the best
  • If something can go wrong for me it will
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15
Q

How do optimists cope with negative events?

A
  • Optimists: approach-oriented, problem-focused coping (face the problem head on, action oriented)
  • Information seeking
  • Active coping and planning (is dilemma controllable)
  • Positive reframing (if we don’t have control - illness = find the silver lining)
  • Use of humour → uncontrollable situations
  • Acceptance → it is what it is and we have to accept it
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16
Q

How do pessimists cope with negative events?

A 
- Pessimist: withdrawal-oriented, emotion-focused coping → aren't dealing with the problem, nut rather with their emotions about it 
• Thought suppression
• Giving up
• Self-distraction
• Focus on distress (rumination) 
• Overt denial
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17
Q

WHat did sheier et al find about optimism and coronary bypass surgery? (what did optimists report day before, week after, 6mths after)

A

• Questionnaires day before, week after, 6 months after

• Before surgery: optimists report
less hostility, depression

  • 1 week after surgery: optimists report more happiness, relief and satisfaction with medical care, emotional support
  • 6 months and 5 years alter: optimists report Higher quality of life
18
Q

What is an alternative reason for way optimist report higher levels of emotional support after bypass surgery?

A

• Also possible that optimist tend to elicit from others behaviour that is more positive → reciprocal determinism, optimist receive more support as they elicit these behaviours
(reciprocal determinism)

19
Q

Are LOT-R, ASQ and CAVE all measuring the same things? What things do high levels correlate to?

A

Looks like they are because Both have similar correlates to
• Good mood
• No or low depression
• Good health
• Active coping
• Achievement
> Converge when studied together (rarely) → when both scores looked at they are highly correlated and predict the same behaviour

20
Q

What is rumination?

A

→ go over the situation in their minds thinking about all the bad things that might happen without thinking about how to deal with the problem

21
Q

What is maladaptive optimism?

A

underestimate risk , overestimate chance of winning - always assume good things will happen - causes addiction to gambling

22
Q

What is Optimist bias?

is it the case that most optismists are excessively optimistic to the point of negative outcomes?

A

Optimistic bias = the tendancy to expect more positive than negative outcomes
→ bottom line NO, optimism has limitations
- dimishish in cases in which behaviour does not impact outcome (exception = gamblers)
- bias reduced if performance is verifiable (can be measured), strongest when its subjective
- biased beliefs are generally not too distant from reality

23
Q

What are the associates that come along with LOT-R Optimism (outcome expectancies)

A
  • Starting university
  • Work performance
  • Enduring missile attack → studies in Israel - optimist deal better
  • Caring for cancer patients
  • Bone marrow transplants → recover faster
  • Coping with cancer → less pain, better post-op recovery
  • Coping with AIDS
  • Post-partum depression
24
Q

What are neurological features explain why we see this difference b/w positive and negative affect?

A
  • More activity and dopamine in (left) frontal cortex ( left activity more associated with positive emotions, Right associated with negative emotion)
25
Q

How does negative vs. positive affect influence where you focus attention?

A
  • Positive = more attentive to things Outside than inside
  • More processing of information as they are, more attentive to things outside themselves, including information → optimism → reasonable hypothesis

• Negative affect impacts sense of self, shame, guilt, fear, anxiety = more inward looking,

26
Q

What is Attribution Re-training?

A

Programs to help people be more optimistic with a Focus on young people

27
Q

What is cognitive reconstructing for kids?

What is the problem and advantage of this?

A
  • Swap pessimistic for optimistic attributions → Seligman’s view (exchange global, internal, unchangeable for unstable, changing, local and external)
  • Modeling or social reward (praise) → praise more optimistic attributions,

Problem: New attributions may be fragile:
• May be unrealistic as old attributions
• Evidence may suggest attributions incorrect

• Advantage → children already have strongly negative and pessimistic attributions for their success and failure so any shift toward optimism is more realistic

28
Q

What is the Penn Resiliency Program (PRP)

A
  • In-school group CBT program for high risk middle-school students. Designed to prevent high school depression → already shown depressive symptoms, unstable homes, not doing well academically are all predictors
29
Q

What are alternate explanations for why people with positive expectations experience positive outcomes, and why negative expectations experience negative outcomes?

A
  • Are these just realistic expectations – do circumstances cause positive/negative outcomes?
  • Not expectancies but evaluations → have a reason to be optimistic as their situation is easier to deal with (i.e. not a terminal cancer)
  • Pessimism associated with risky behaviour – does that cause negative outcomes?
  • Maybe risky behaviour that is responsible for negative outcomes not the pessimism
30
Q

How does PRP use Skill acquisition to help middles school children?

A
  • Problem-solving
  • Emotion-control ( moderate negative emotions to think more clearly)
  • Relaxation → difficult to have negative emotions when you are relaxed
  • Assertiveness → stand up for themselves = state their needs, not remaining silent;
  • Negotiation → likely to help with dealing with future problems
  • countering procrastination
31
Q

What study was conducted evaluating PRP

A
  • Children at high risk for highschool/ adult depression
  • Compared with control group of at risk kids who didn’t go through PRP program
  • Followed for 3 years
  • Short term → substantial difference
  • Control → half developed depressive symptoms over the next year
  • PRP → only 20% developed depressive symptoms
  • After three years insignificant (need a booster session)
32
Q

What are thoughts/tendencies that tend to be associated with negative affect/depression (10 things)

A
  • tendency to Dichotomize: label outcome as success or failure → no in b/w
  • Overgeneralization: one event – life in general
  • Selective abstraction: focus on negative feedback not entire outcome (ex. essays)
  • Disqualifying the positive → reasons positive feedback doesn’t matter
  • Mind reading and fortune telling → draw inference about mental states from behaviour, predicting future in negative way
  • Maximizing, minimizing → max negative, min positive
  • Emotional reasoning: your feelings = reality
  • Should statements: to control behaviour → ideal self (Rodgers)
  • Global labeling: I’m a failure
  • Personalization: I am responsible → attributing personal reasons to someone else’s behaviours
33
Q

what are 3 characteristics of optimistic beliefs?

A
  • Don’t get too far out of line (bounded)
  • Are strategic
  • Help people meet their goals
  • Used selectively, not indiscriminately (not shown up in every situation, appear selectively)
  • Are adjusted to match situation (responsive)
34
Q

what did Aspinwall & Brunhart (1996) find about how optimists process information regarding health practices (vitamins, UV) differently than pessimists?

A
  • Pay more attention/remember more negative info → pessimist shy away form info health risk
  • More elaborative processing of negative info → pessimist = superficial processing
  • More attention to most useful information → selective attention to info directly relevant to their behaviour to help them minimize risk
35
Q

Whats an alternative explanation of why optimists process health info differently?

A

Maybe positive affect due to optimism is responsible not optimism itself

36
Q

What was found of people higher in positive affect

A
  • More sensitive to important features of task
  • More risks when stakes unimportant
  • Less risk when stakes real and significant → More risk averse and take fewer risk; negative affect take risks
  • More processing of negative info about self
37
Q

What are neurological features of positive affect?

A
  • More dopamine in (left) frontal cortex? (Right associated with negative emotion)
38
Q

How does negative vs. positive affect influence where you focus attention?

A
  • Positive = more Outside than inside
  • More processing of information as they are, more attentive to things outside themselves, including information → optimism → reasonable hypothesis

• Negative affect impacts sense of self, shame, guilt, fear, anxiety = more inward looking,

39
Q

What is cognitive reconstructing for kids?

What is the advantage of this?

A
  • Swap pessimistic for optimistic attributions → Seligman’s view (exchange global, internal, unchangeable for unstable, changing, local and external)
  • Modeling or social reward (praise) → praise more optimistic attributions,
  • New attributions may be fragile:
    • May be unrealistic as old attributions
    • Evidence may suggest attributions incorrect

• Advantage → children already have strongly negative and pessimistic for their success and failure so any shift toward optimism is more realistic

40
Q

How is optimism encouraged in psychotherapy?

A
  • Cognitive behavioural therapy focus on the ways in which people think about the events that happen to them that are pessimistic
41
Q

Why is there less litrature on internal vs. external causes (in terms of sttributions)

A
  • correlates less consistently than others
  • more difficult to assess reliably
  • doesn’t directly affect expectations
    confounds self-blame and self-efficacy
42
Q

what are the characteristics of optimistic beliefs?

A
  • don’t get too far off line - bounded by reality
  • are strategic (help people meet goals, beliefs are used selectively in situations where you have control)
  • flexible - adjusted to match the situation

Psych 2BA3 (11 decks)

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