Anxiety and Unrealistic Optimism

Dewberry, Christopher; Ing, M G; James, Shan; Nixon, Milou; Richardson, Susan

doi:10.1080/00224545.1990.9924565

Cited by 38 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Looking at our results, showing the dynamics of unrealistic optimism in our participants, one can (optimistically!) risk the statement days earlier as an indicator of an increase in awareness of the existing danger, then the simultaneous belief that others are even more exposed than oneself may have positive consequences-this may be associated with a lack of excessive anxiety, leading to passivity [22,23] and motivate engagement in health promoting activities [18]. Of course, we must stress that this is only supposition on our part, unsupported by empirical evidence.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Unrealistic Optimism in the Time of Coronavirus Pandemic: May It Help to Kill, If So—Whom: Disease or the Person?

Doliński

Dolińska

Zmaczyńska-Witek

et al. 2020

JCM

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Objective: The results of numerous empirical studies have showed the occurrence of so-called unrealistic optimism. Thus, we aimed to investigate whether in the situation of an imminent coronavirus pandemic, people would still perceive themselves as being less exposed to the disease than others. Methods: Survey studies were conducted to examine the level of unrealistic optimism. Participants (n = 171, 67.3% of women) in a subjective way judged the risk of their coronavirus infection and the likelihood that this would happen to an average student of the same sex from their class. The survey was conducted in three waves: prior to the announcement of the first case of coronavirus (2-3 March), immediately after that announcement (5-6 March), and a few days later (9-10 March). Results: We showed that women estimated the chances of being infected as significantly higher (M = 4.52, SD = 2.079; t = 2.387; p = 0.018; Cohen's d = 0.393) than men (M = 3.71, SD = 2.042). The phenomenon of unrealistic optimism was observed especially in men (as compared to other male participants) as it appeared in all three measures (M (you) = 3.95 vs. M (other male student) = 4.63; M = 3.71 vs. M = 4.68, and M = 4.46 vs. M = 5.38 in phase one, two, and three, respectively; p ≤ 0.006 for all comparison), but also in women in the last two measures (M (you) = 4.55 vs. M (other female student) = 4.95, and M = 4.99 vs. M = 5.38 in phase 2 and 3, respectively; p ≤ 0.012 for both comparisons). Conclusions: The study revealed a fairly general occurrence of unrealistic optimism, which was mainly observed in men as it appeared in all three measures, but also in women in the last two measures. This result is important for health experts who are responsible for making people comply with regulations concerning social distancing, putting masks on to stop infection, and staying at home. It is possible that unrealistically optimistic people will behave much less in line with the aforementioned recommendations, causing coronavirus to spread widely.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Unrealistic Optimism in the Time of Coronavirus Pandemic: May It Help to Kill, If So—Whom: Disease or the Person?

Doliński

Dolińska

Zmaczyńska-Witek

et al. 2020

JCM

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“…In many other studies, risks for different negative outcomes are analyzed separately, but risks for different outcomes are not directly compared and whatever differences are found are not discussed in detail, (Dewberry, Ing, James, Nixon, & Richardson, 1990;Peterson & DeAvila, 1995). For example, Weinstein (1987, p. 494) stated that "unrealistic optimism is prevalent in the population as a whole" Kulik and Mahler (1987, p. 24) suggested that "participants overall demonstrated a pervasive tendency to view their own risk for a variety of negative life events as significantly below average."…”

Section: Implications Of the Dimensionality Of Unrealistic Optimism Fmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The rationales used in many other studies have not been so detailed. In some studies, problems were chosen because they had evoked an optimistic bias in past research (Kulik & Mahler, 1987;Perloff & Fetzer, 1986;Weinstein, 1983); whereas in others no specific rationale was provided (Cohn et al, 1995;Dewberry et al, 1990;Hoorens & Buunk, 1993;Peterson & De Avila, 1995;Weinstein, 1984Weinstein, , 1987.…”

Section: Implications Of the Dimensionality Of Unrealistic Optimism Fmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implications of The Dimensionality of Unrealistic Optimism For The Study of Perceived Health Risks

Nezlek¹,

Zebrowski²

2001

Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology

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To examine the dimensions of unrealistic optimism, 635 college students indicated their relative likelihood of experiencing 25 health problems commonly used in studies of unrealistic optimism. Factor analyses of these estimates yielded five correlated, but distinct factors, suggesting that unrealistic optimism is not a unidimensional construct. Two factors, Common and Mixed, were comprised of heterogeneous problems. The Common factor was comprised of problems similar to those frequently used in other studies, and these problems were also perceived as more likely to occur than problems comprising other factors. Three factors were comprised of problems in specific domains, (1) substance abuse, (2) sexuality, and (3) mental health. Participants' psychological well-being and dispositional optimism were negatively correlated with perceived risk of experiencing mental health problems, whereas these measures were unrelated to perceived risks for other types of problems. The present results suggest that results of studies on unrealistic optimism may vary considerably as a function of the specific health risks being examined.Contemporary research on well-being is informed by the realization that wellness is influenced by the decisions and choices people make regarding health-relevant behaviors. Although some individuals behave in ways that promote well-being, others behave in ways that put them at risk for negative health outcomes. A variety of researchers have suggested that individuals engage in risky behaviors in part because they underestimate the likelihood that they will experience health problems, and such underestimates have been referred to as unrealistic optimism (Weinstein, 1980).In studies of unrealistic optimism, people are typically asked to estimate the likelihood they will experience a certain negative event relative 521

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“…Other studies indicate that anxious individuals exhibit either reduced optimism or pessimistic responses (e.g. Dewberry, Ing, James, Nixon & Richardson, 1989;Norem & Cantor, 1986) and optimism is related to internal locus of control (Hoorens & Buunk, 1993).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Illusions of well‐being and the repressive coping style

Myers

Brewin

1996

British J Social Psychol

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Recently, the proposition that it is normal for people to see themselves in illusorily positive terms has been challenged and it has been suggested that this phenomenon may be explained by the contribution of subgroups of overly positive individuals. We investigated this possibility by examining the contribution of repressive individuals, who tend to avoid negative affect, to the illusions of unrealistic optimism and overly positive self-evaluations. Whereas normal and non-anxious controls showed no evidence of illusory biases, repressors rated themselves as significantly less likely than the average person to experience negative events, and rated negative words as significantly less descriptive of self than others. These findings support the hypothesis that, in judgements involving negative material, the presence of repressors may be contributing to findings of illusory biases.

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Anxiety and Unrealistic Optimism

Cited by 38 publications

References 8 publications

Unrealistic Optimism in the Time of Coronavirus Pandemic: May It Help to Kill, If So—Whom: Disease or the Person?

Unrealistic Optimism in the Time of Coronavirus Pandemic: May It Help to Kill, If So—Whom: Disease or the Person?

Implications of The Dimensionality of Unrealistic Optimism For The Study of Perceived Health Risks

Illusions of well‐being and the repressive coping style

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