The benefits of optimism

Psychologists have examined optimism and have theorized it in several forms within the last few years. Many of the theories seem to have some commonalities, such as the idea that optimism doesn’t have much to do with objective characteristics of a situation or an event. In fact, optimism is extremely subjective. Scheier and Carver (1992) agree that optimism conveys the idea that individuals can identify with plans and objectives existing soon. Optimistic people believe that good things will happen soon and are always seeking out the positive in every situation. They are always looking at a glass half full versus a glass as half empty (Schneider, Gruman & Coutts, 2012).

The idea of optimism has only been scientifically studied for that last thirty years. The phenomenon is new to the scientific field, but it appears to be related to the field of positive psychology. Optimistic people tend to be more persistent. Optimism itself has been associated with the pursuit of goals, the development of social networks/relationships and with physical and emotional well-being (Bouchard, Carver, Mens & Scheier, 2018). One study that was conducted found that optimism is highly associated with positive mental health. Optimism has been found to be a positive coping technique for survivors of disasters (weather storms and catastrophic events). Individuals with optimistic personalities may also have better health throughout their life span overall (Cherry, Sampson, Galea, Marks, Nezat, Baudoin & Lyon, 2017).

Overall, optimism adds several benefits to social psychology and to individuals. Six of the benefits consists of romantic relationships, friendships, biomedical health, mental and emotional health, work and college. Research has found that optimistic partners in romantic relationships tend to have better relationship satisfaction and functioning. The quality of friendships also tends to be higher when optimistic individuals are involved. As for Biomedical health, studies have found that optimism is related to better healthy lifestyle habits and behaviors. There has also been a relationship found between optimism and mental and emotional health. People who are happier in their daily lives tend to have better moods regardless of their health and situational factors. Lastly, optimism has been found to be associated with better work performance and positive adjustments both at work and in college (Schneider et al., 2012).

Optimistic people are positive thinkers, as opposed to pessimistic people who are more negative natured. Optimistic individuals make internal, stable and global attributions while pessimists make external, unstable and specific attributions to explain why bad things have happened (Schneider et al., 2012). Throughout the course of our lives many of us will take on the characteristics of both being optimistic and pessimistic from time to time. If we could try to be more positive and think optimistically more often, we may also obtain benefits that can improve our overall health and our perspective on ourselves as well as the world around us.

References

Bouchard, L. C., Carver, C. S., Mens, M. C., & Scheier, M. F. (2018). Optimism, health, and well-being. In D. S. Dunn (Ed.), Positive psychology: Established and emerging issues; positive psychology: Established and emerging issues (pp. 112-130, Chapter xiv, 351 Pages) Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group, New York, NY. Retrieved from http://ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/docview/2082682435?accountid=13158

Cherry, K. E., Sampson, L., Galea, S., Marks, L. D., Nezat, P. F., Baudoin, K. H., & Lyon, B. A. (2017). Optimism and hope after multiple disasters: Relationships to health-related quality of life. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 22(1), 61-76. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/10.1080/15325024.2016.1187047

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., & Coutts, L. M. (2012). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

3 comments

  1. Jessica Kramer

    What a great read! I have always been the optimistic one in my friend groups. I find that being positive helps with everything because I don’t feel that we should dwell on the bad in situations. There has been a couple past friends of mine, who were always pessimistic and you could visually see how tiring it made them. No matter what the situation was, they only saw the negative and could never lift their heads out of it. There are more benefits to being optimistic than being pessimistic as you listed in your blog post. A few more to add are a greater life satisfaction, improved worldwide subjective well-being, and a major improvement in one’s physical health (Gallagher, Lopez, & Pressman, 2013). Well done!

    References
    Gallagher, M. W., Lopez, S. J., & Pressman, S. D. (2013). Optimism is universal: Exploring the presence and benefits of optimism in a representative sample of the world. Journal of Personality, 81(5), 429-440. doi:10.1111/jopy.12026

  2. Yes Cindy, I have also found that having a pessimistic perspective leads me towards negative events and situations. I do have a tendency to be optimistic while at work and with school situations but I found myself leaning towards pessimism when it comes to my personal issues which I need to improve upon.

  3. Now I definitely will try to be a bit more optimistic. I didn’t realize that optimism had direct health benefits. I personally have dealt with chronic stress and have found myself being overly pessimistic. I eventually tried to be more optimistic and seen the change in my stress levels. By being more optimistic I endured hard times and focused on the good. By ignoring the negative I was able to persevere through difficult times.

Leave a Reply


Skip to toolbar