Unrealistic Optimism in the Pursuit of Academic Success

Lewine, Richard; Sommers, Alison A.

doi:10.20429/ijsotl.2016.100204

Cited by 13 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…For instance, I tend to believe that I am more productive than the average academic and that I will not get cancer. Although the link between optimism and success is widely endorsed in popular culture, it is controversial in the empirical literature, where we find both examples of optimistic beliefs leading to success (e.g., Fox 2013) and examples of optimistic beliefs leading to failure (e.g., Lavallo and Kahneman 2003;Lewine and Sommers 2016).…”

Section: Optimism and Goal Fulfilmentmentioning

confidence: 71%

Optimism, Agency, and Success

Bortolotti

2018

Ethic Theory Moral Prac

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Does optimism lead to success? Friends of optimism argue that positive beliefs about ourselves and our future contribute to our fitness and mental health, and are correlated with good functioning, productivity, resilience, and pro-social behaviour. Sceptics, instead, claim that when we are optimistic we fail to react constructively to negative feedback, and put ourselves at risk because we underestimate threats. Thus, it is controversial whether optimistic beliefs are conducive to success, intended as the fulfilment of our goals in a given domain. According to the traditional view, optimistic beliefs lead to success when they do not involve any distortion of reality, and according to the trade-off view, they lead to success when they involve a distortion of reality, but a small one. Based on the literature about positive illusions in the perception of romantic partners and in the assessment of future health prospects, I suggest that optimistic beliefs lead to goal attainment when they support agency by contributing to the sense that we are competent and efficacious agents and that our goals are both desirable and attainable.

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Section: Optimism and Goal Fulfilmentmentioning

confidence: 71%

Optimism, Agency, and Success

Bortolotti

2018

Ethic Theory Moral Prac

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“…The MM and MC scores achieved on the pre-test were uniformly high, indicating that most students believed that they were aware of their learning and doing everything they could to improve. Given that past literature has indicated that most students have poor overall metacognitive abilities (Ehrlinger et al, 2008;Lewine & Sommers, 2016;Saenz et al, 2017), and assuming our sample is representative, it is possible that these initial self-reported scores were inflated. It is therefore likely that introspection throughout the semester led the students to reassess their responses when completing the post-test, resulting in lower scores.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indeed, MM has been shown to be beneficial to learning (Hartwig et al, 2012) as it allows students to assess their comprehension and identify concepts for additional study (Thiede et al, 2003). However most students, especially low performing students, have poor MM skills (Ehrlinger et al, 2008;Lewine & Sommers, 2016;Saenz et al, 2017). Consequently, interventions to improve MM and subsequently MC have been the focus of much study in recent years (for examples see de Bruin et al, 2017;Dunlosky & Rawson, 2015;Mynlieff et al, 2014;Zepeda et al, 2015); however, these interventions vary in effectiveness and tend to demand a high level of resources, therefore presenting challenges to implementation-especially in post-secondary education.…”

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confidence: 99%

A Metacognitive Instructional Guide to Support Effective Studying Strategies

et al. 2021

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Metacognition—the processes whereby learners assess and monitor their progress in learning (metacognitive monitoring, MM) and use these judgements of learning to make choices about what to study in the future (metacognitive control, MC)—has been shown to be beneficial to learning. However, effective learning also relies on metacognitive knowledge (MK)—that is, students’ knowledge about effective study strategies and how to employ them. Few students receive explicit in-class instruction on these topics. Here, we explore if an online instructional guide, which includes information about evidence-based study strategies, example questions for self-testing, and a study calendar to help regulate timing of studying can effectively teach MK to improve performance.While it is unclear if the online instructional guide was related to increases in MK, MM, and MC, we did observe benefits to student performance, particularly in highly anxious students on high-stake assessments such as the final examination. Future research should seek to understand how students were engaging with the guide and how the nature of the engagement impacted their study strategies.

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“…People believe that they are immune to adversity, such as road accidents (Rutter et al, 1998 ), divorce (Lin & Raghubir, 2005 ), or substance abuse (Nezlek & Zebrowski, 2001 ), while others are not. At the same time the same people also believe that good things and events such as passing exams (Lewine & Sommers, 2016 ) or earning a high salary after graduation (Shepperd et al, 1996 ) are more likely to happen to them than to their peers. From this perspective, it is clear that unrealistic optimism has an important role in protecting well‐being by reducing fear and anxiety (e.g., Hoorens, 1995 ), preserving a sense of control (e.g., Taylor, 1989 ), and helping confront potential threats (e.g., Shepperd et al, 1996 ).…”

Section: Unrealistic Optimism and Its Positive Impact On Well‐beingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Media intervention program for reducing unrealistic optimism bias: The link between unrealistic optimism, well‐being, and health

Doliński

Kulesza

Muniak

et al. 2021

Applied Psych Health & Well

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Unrealistic optimism is the tendency to perceive oneself as safer than others in situations that equally threaten everybody. By reducing fear, this bias boosts one's well‐being; however, it is also a deterrent to one's health. Three experiments were run in a mixed‐design on 1831 participants to eliminate unrealistic optimism (measured by two items—probability of COVID‐19 infection for oneself and for others; within‐subjects) toward the probability of COVID‐19 infection via articles/videos. A between‐subject factor was created by manipulation. Ostensibly, daily newspaper articles describing other people diligently following medical recommendations (experiment 1) and videos showing people who did not follow these recommendations (experiment 2) reduced unrealistic optimism. The third experiment, which included both articles and videos, replicated these results. These results can be applied to strategies for written and video communications that can be used by governments and public health agencies as best practices concerning not only COVID‐19 but also any subsequent public health threat while promoting proactive, optimal, and healthy functioning of the individual.

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Unrealistic Optimism in the Pursuit of Academic Success

Cited by 13 publications

References 16 publications

Optimism, Agency, and Success

Optimism, Agency, and Success

A Metacognitive Instructional Guide to Support Effective Studying Strategies

Media intervention program for reducing unrealistic optimism bias: The link between unrealistic optimism, well‐being, and health

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