In the research carried out regarding this perspective, positive correlations have been found between optimism and physical/mental well-being. Optimistic individuals are positive about events in daily life. Scheier and Carver theorized the “disposition” towards optimism in their studies, called “dispositional optimism”, considering it a trait of an equilibrated personality, in time and in various situations, that influences the way in which individuals come to terms with present, past and future events in life. Over the last few years, a significant body of research has been carried out about the effectiveness of optimism as a psychological phenomenon, leading to various theoretical formulations of the same concept, understood as “disposition”, “attributional style”, “cognitive bias”, or “shared illusion”. Optimism may significantly influence mental and physical well-being by the promotion of a healthy lifestyle as well as by adaptive behaviours and cognitive responses, associated with greater flexibility, problem-solving capacity and a more efficient elaboration of negative information.Īs it is commonly understood, the term ‘optimism’ embraces two closely correlated concepts: the first is the inclination to hope, while the second more generally refers to the tendency to believe that we live in “the best of all possible worlds”, as coined by the German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in his famous theodicy, ridiculed in Voltaire’s Candide. There is evidence that optimistic people present a higher quality of life compared to those with low levels of optimism or even pessimists. Through employment of specific coping strategies, optimism exerts an indirect influence also on the quality of life. A significant positive relation emerges between optimism and coping strategies focused on social support and emphasis on positive aspects of stressful situations. Positive and negative expectations regarding the future are important for understanding the vulnerability to mental disorders, in particular mood and anxiety disorders, as well as to physical illness. This overview is an attempt to explore the “optimism” concept and its relations with mental health, physical health, coping, quality of life and adaptation of purpose, health lifestyle and risk perception. Theoretical implications for unrealistic optimism, cross-cultural psychology, as well as gender differences are discussed.Many studies have been carried out about the effectiveness of optimism as a psychological phenomenon, leading to various theoretical formulations of the same concept, conceptualized as “disposition”, “attributional style”, “cognitive bias”, or “shared illusion”. Results are consistent with the interpretation that men have a less relationally interdependent self-construal than women. We find that the unrealistic optimism bias is stronger (Study 1) and more resilient to change when base rates are provided (Study 2) for men as compared to women. Although the bias is robust, it has been shown to be lower among people with an interdependent orientation, specifically those from a collectivist culture (e.g., Taiwan). Unrealistic optimism is defined as the beliefs that positive (negative) events are more (less) likely to happen to one’s self versus others.
Two studies (n = 497) examine gender differences in “unrealistic optimism” in beliefs of marriage using a Taiwanese population. Gender Differences in Unrealistic Optimism About Marriage and Divorce: Are Men More Optimistic and Women More Realistic? Gender Differences in Unrealistic Optimism About Marriage and Divorce: Are Men More Optimistic.
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