The neurophysiological basis of optimism bias

Dricu, Mihai; Kress, Laura; Aue, Tatjana

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-816660-4.00003-9

Cited by 23 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 125 publications

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“…Thus, a feeling of superiority may be biologically rooted and mediated by different processes: either by up-leveling oneself or by down-leveling disliked others. A mildly irrational optimistic belief in oneself compared with others appears to be healthy, and a lack of it has been associated with psychopathology ( Strunk et al ., 2006 ; Garrett et al ., 2014 ; Korn et al ., 2014 ; Blair et al ., 2017 ; Dricu et al ., in press ). However, the present study indicates that this belief shares a biological substrate with social biases that can discriminate against out-groups.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social optimism biases are associated with cortical thickness

Moser

Dricu

Wiest³

et al. 2020

Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience

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Optimism biases denote the tendency to see future desirable events as being more likely to happen to oneself than undesirable events. Such biases are important for mental health and may extend to other individuals or social groups (social optimism biases). However, little is known about whether social optimism biases relate to brain structure. Using sparse canonical correlation analysis, we associated cortical thickness (assessed by magnetic resonance imaging) with measures of social and personal optimism bias, trait optimism, and related concepts. We identified a defensive self-enhancement dimension that associated significantly and reliably with the cortical thickness of the insula and inferior frontal cortex. This self-enhancement dimension included unfavorable biases toward unpopular out-groups and indicators of personal optimism and pessimism. A shared biological substrate underlying future expectancies that subserves the promotion of the self and the denigration of unpopular out-groups may render society-wide efforts to counteract stereotyping particularly difficult: Such efforts may hinder the establishment of adaptive personal optimism biases.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social optimism biases are associated with cortical thickness

Moser

Dricu

Wiest³

et al. 2020

Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience

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“…In addition, functional studies have shown that both personal and social optimism biases, as well as related concepts (e.g., dispositional optimism), are linked to neural activation and resting‐state functional connectivity (RSFC) (Aue et al, 2012; Dricu, Schupbach, et al, 2020; Dricu, Kress, & Aue, 2020;Ran et al, 2017; Wang et al, 2018). Although no studies on optimism bias have been conducted on RSFC at a network level, two of them have investigated brain regions within networks (Ran et al, 2017; Wang et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reduced network integration in default mode and executive networks is associated with social and personal optimism biases

Moser

Dricu

Kotikalapudi

et al. 2021

Human Brain Mapping

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An optimism bias refers to the belief in good things happening to oneself in the future with a higher likelihood than is justified. Social optimism biases extend this concept to groups that one identifies with. Previous literature has found that both personal and social optimism biases are linked to brain structure and task‐related brain function. Less is known about whether optimism biases are also expressed in resting‐state functional connectivity (RSFC). Forty‐two participants completed questionnaires on dispositional personal optimism (which is not necessarily unjustified) and comparative optimism (i.e., whether we see our own future as being rosier than a comparison person's future) and underwent a resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging scan. They further undertook an imaginative soccer task in order to assess both their personal and social optimism bias. We tested associations of these data with RSFC within and between 13 networks, using sparse canonical correlation analyses (sCCAs). We found that the primary sCCA component was positively connected to personal and social optimism bias and negatively connected to dispositional personal pessimism. This component was associated with (a) reduced integration of the default mode network, (b) reduced integration of the central executive and salience networks, and (c) reduced segregation between the default mode network and the central executive network. Our finding that optimism biases are linked to RSFC indicates that they may be rooted in neurobiology that exists outside of concurrent tasks. This poses questions as to what the limits of the malleability of such biases may be.

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“…Furthermore, there are biased a-posteriori expectancies, which are exhibited after the exposure to threat-relevant stimuli. These are also known as memory biases (for a review, see [ 10 ]; for a review on expectancies toward positive stimuli, see [ 13 ]; for a review on expectancies toward negative stimuli, see [ 14 ]). Expectancies can be measured and manipulated in various ways, implicitly and explicitly.…”

Section: Attention Bias Toward Threat: Manifestations and Interactmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It has recently been established that a-priori optimistic expectancies affect positive attention bias [ 48 ], and that ABM toward positive stimuli can enhance optimistic expectancies ([ 49 ]; see [ 50 ] for suggested neurobiological mechanisms underlying such interplay between the biases). Considering many shared factors between negative and positive emotions, the bidirectional causality in the context of positive stimuli suggests that it might also exist in the case of negative stimuli (for reviews on expectancy and attention bias toward positive stimuli, see [ 13 , 51 ]).…”

Section: The Effect Of Pre-stimulus Factors On Attention Bias: Intmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Missing Pieces of the Puzzle: A Review on the Interactive Nature of A-Priori Expectancies and Attention Bias toward Threat

2020

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The role of attention bias in the etiology and maintenance of anxiety disorders has been studied extensively over decades. Attention bias reflects maladaptation in cognitive processing, as perceived threatening stimuli receive prioritized processing even when they are task-irrelevant or factually unthreatening. Recently, there has been some interest in the role of a-priori expectancies in attention bias toward threat. The current review article will present recent studies as examples that emphasize the need for more comprehensive research about the interactive effects of various factors that affect the relationship between expectancies and attention bias toward threatening stimuli in anxiety. The current review article suggests a holistic view, which advocates for more integrative research, as a dynamic network could underlie changes in attention bias. The study of the interaction between such factors, with a focus on expectancy, can lead to more ecological and clinically important results, and thus to more informed and fine-tuned treatments that are based on manipulation of expectancies. Such methods, in turn, can also help in shedding light on the research of attention bias, in a mutual relationship between research and therapy.

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The neurophysiological basis of optimism bias

Cited by 23 publications

References 125 publications

Social optimism biases are associated with cortical thickness

Social optimism biases are associated with cortical thickness

Reduced network integration in default mode and executive networks is associated with social and personal optimism biases

The Missing Pieces of the Puzzle: A Review on the Interactive Nature of A-Priori Expectancies and Attention Bias toward Threat

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