![]() Seligman went on to investigate why some people never become helpless by examining how we make judgments about the causes of events, referred to as a person’s attributional or explanatory style.Įvery attribution we make varies along several dimensions: It was inspired the phenomenon of learned helplessness - Seligman and colleagues' (1995 as cited by Peterson, 2000) finding that most people become persistently helpless when consistently exposed to uncontrollable negative events. Optimism as attributional style Īnother way in which optimism has been conceptualized and measured is using the attributional style approach, where optimism is considered in terms of how we explain the causes of good and bad events. ![]() To read about how dispositional optimism is measured, visit the measuring optimism subpage. According to Scheier and Carver (1992), optimism and pessimism are broad, generalized versions of confidence and doubt relating to life, rather than to just a specific context. This approach to optimism first arose in relation to Self-regulatory theory, which views all of human behaviour as revolving around the identification and attainment of goals (Peterson, 2000). The dispositional optimism approach defines optimism as a personality trait whereby one has a generalized expectancy for positive outcomes in the future (Carver, Scheier & Segerstrom, 2010). This is compatible with the human-nature approach to optimism - our human nature provides a baseline of optimism, of which we can show more or less (Forgeard & Seligman, 2012). Optimism can also be considered as a characteristic people possess to varying degrees. For example, most people underestimate their risks when asked to estimate the likelihood that they will someday experience an illness or injury (Dillard, McCaul & Klein, 2006).ĭispositional optimism Yet we can have an optimistic yet unrealistic view of the future if we believe things will go well when evidence suggest otherwise (Forgeard & Seligman, 2012). If there is sufficient reason to think that good things will happen in the future, we can be realistically optimistic (Forgeard & Seligman, 2012). This is referred to as the Optimism bias.Īlthough the majority of us show this optimistic bias, researchers distinguish between realistic and unrealistic optimism. ![]() Taylor and Brown (1988) found that the only individuals who do not show this positivity are those who are depressed or anxious. ![]() Most of us tend to remember more positive information about ourselves, take responsibility for more positive events than negative events, and judge positive attributes to be considerably more characteristic of ourselves than negative attributes (Taylor & Brown, 1988). A large body of research shows not only that most people hold overly positive evaluations of themselves, but that this is particularly characteristic of psychologically healthy individuals (Peterson, 2000). One approach to optimism regards it as a natural aspect of human nature. Some people may simply be born with the expectation that good things will be plentiful, but research also suggests that we can all learn how to be more optimistic. They differ in how they approach problems and challenges, and how they perceive and react to the world and themselves. Over the years, research has found that optimists and pessimists differ in several ways which have a big impact on their lives. In contrast, pessimism is the tendency to see the worst in situations, and expect negative or unpleasant events in the future (Forgeard & Seligman, 2012). Optimism refers to the tendency to expect desirable events in the future and to “look on the bright side” of situations (Forgeard & Seligman, 2012). 6.2 Do it yourself: A few take-home tips!.
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