Temporal aspects of unrealistic optimism and robustness of this bias: A longitudinal study in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

Izydorczak, Kamil; Antoniuk, Karolina; Kulesza, Wojciech; Muniak, Paweł; Doliński, Dariusz

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0278045

Cited by 8 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…In this study, UO toward the risk of COVID-19 infection was measured for a month in various countries. Lastly, UO bias was shown to be present in the course of an entire year among 120 participants (Izydorczak et al, 2022).…”

Section: Unrealistic Optimism and The Covid-19 Pandemicmentioning

confidence: 90%

COVID-19 and a biased public mentality toward infection and vaccination: A case of unrealistic optimism and social comparisons between the vaccinated and unvaccinated

Kulesza

Doliński

Muniak

et al. 2022

Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology

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Unrealistic Optimism in the context of COVID-19 is described as the tendency to perceive peers as being more at risk of infection. To date, however, no research has proposed more specific comparisons. The present article not only replicates the most recent body of literature showing that people perceive themselves as less prone to COVID-19 infection than their peers, but fills the aforementioned gap by providing additional and more specific comparisons between those vaccinated and unvaccinated against COVID-19. Such comparisons may be crucial to curb the possibility of resurgence of COVID-19 by assessing how unvaccinated individuals perceive the probability of being infected by coronavirus. Some 622 Prolific—(un)vaccinated against COVID-19—users participated in an online quasi-experiment. Participants estimated the risk of COVID-19 infection for themselves, their peers or the average (un)vaccinated peer, which is a new addition to the literature. Results showed that there was an unrealistic optimism effect. Participants estimated their risk for infection as lower in comparison to others. Surprisingly, results showed that for unvaccinated people, vaccines seem to be an effective tool to reduce the risk of infection, but not for themselves.

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Section: Unrealistic Optimism and The Covid-19 Pandemicmentioning

confidence: 90%

COVID-19 and a biased public mentality toward infection and vaccination: A case of unrealistic optimism and social comparisons between the vaccinated and unvaccinated

Kulesza

Doliński

Muniak

et al. 2022

Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Describing the pandemic as a dramatic period not only from a medical point of view but also from a philosophical point of view, the isolation generated in the collective consciousness questions about the future of humanity, the need for some anchors at a collective psychological level appeared (Amit et al, 2021;Cao et al, 2021;Gassen et al, 2021;Greenblatt-Kimron et al, 2023;Hartz et al, 2023;Islam et al, 2023;Izydorczak et al, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimism As A Resource And Form Of Manifesting Positive Affectiveness In The Elderly And Young Adults Pre-Pandemic Vs Pandemic – Comparative Study

Moroianu,

Curis,

Moroianu

et al. 2024

BRAIN

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The present study represents a meta-analysis carried out using the term optimism as a form of manifestation of positive affectivity from a double perspective, namely: reporting to two periods, pre-pandemic and pandemic and to two age categories, young adults and old people. Two types of psychological intervention factors were analyzed in the mentioned categories, in the pre-pandemic period, namely, a period of financial stability vs pre-pandemic financial instability, respectively, the spectrum of the pandemic generating anxiety, illness and death as markers of emotional balance. The meta-analysis indirectly quantified the interest in scientific research regarding optimism as a psychological resource, through the number of published articles related to this psychological variable. Material and method: The study is a comparative and cross-sectional meta-analysis of articles published in the PubMed database during 2008-2011, 2016-2019 and 2020-2023. Data processing was carried out using the Microsoft Excel application. Results: The comparative analysis between young people and the elderly ones regarding the studies published in the period 2008-2011 with the psychological variable "optimism" in their study shows a 15.65 times higher number of studies in terms of articles about seniors. Also, the comparative analysis of the number of studies published in the period 2008-2023 for the two age categories is clearly in favor of the elderly, the ratio being 1 to 12.8. It is possible that this fact is due to the greater addressability of the health systems of the elderly. The comparative analysis led to the conclusion that optimism as a form of manifestation of positive affectivity was studied more frequently in the third age patients being considered an important resource for them due to its attenuation with advancing age and by diminishing personal resources as a consequence of cognitive impairment and emotional lability. In young people, optimism is a psychological component present in a greater proportion and constitutes the premises of ecological emotional and cognitive manifestations. Conclusions: The meta-analysis revealed differences regarding research interest related to optimism as a manifestation of positive affectivity in relation to the periods studied and to the mentioned age categories. In relation to optimism per se, it represents an important resource at any age and it is dependent on a series of factors that are related to the period of life but also to the situational context, without discussing the personality type of the individual and a series of co-factors (transgenerational, educational, cultural, geographical, etc.).

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How Did We Forge a Bearable Reality in COVID-19? Biases in Social Comparative Judgments in a Time of Pervasive Threat

Kulesza

Doliński

2023

SpringerBriefs in Psychology

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In this chapter we present a very special form of social illusions: unrealistic pessimism (the expectation that negative events will happen to us in comparison to others who will be less affected by negative events like earthquakes or radioactive pollution). On that basis, we were interested in which illusions, which are associated with appearing in the moment of crisis, will appear during the eruption of the COVID-19 pandemic: that is, unrealistic optimism or pessimism (I perceive myself as less or more threatened than others) and the better-than-average effect.It turned out that unrealistic optimism was present from the very beginning and did not disappear even when our respondents were delivered clear data (e.g., number of casualties, the rapid growth of cases) showing that all societies around the world were in great danger.In this chapter we also present global studies showing how widespread this phenomenon is.Interestingly, in our studies the better-than-average effect was also present in many countries: respondents perceived themselves as more involved in actions preventing COVID-19 infection whilst others were less involved.

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Temporal aspects of unrealistic optimism and robustness of this bias: A longitudinal study in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

Cited by 8 publications

References 25 publications

COVID-19 and a biased public mentality toward infection and vaccination: A case of unrealistic optimism and social comparisons between the vaccinated and unvaccinated

COVID-19 and a biased public mentality toward infection and vaccination: A case of unrealistic optimism and social comparisons between the vaccinated and unvaccinated

Optimism As A Resource And Form Of Manifesting Positive Affectiveness In The Elderly And Young Adults Pre-Pandemic Vs Pandemic – Comparative Study

How Did We Forge a Bearable Reality in COVID-19? Biases in Social Comparative Judgments in a Time of Pervasive Threat

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