Optimism is a mental attitude or world view that interprets situations and events as being best

(optimized), so that in some way that may not be fully comprehended the present moment is in an

optimum state. The concept is extended to include the hope that future conditions will unfold as

optimal.[1]

The broad concept of optimism is the understanding that all of nature - past, present and future -

operates by laws of optimization along the lines of Hamilton's principle in the realm of physics. This

understanding, although criticized by counter views such as pessimism, idealism and realism, leads

to a state of mind that believes everything is as it should be, and that the future will be as well.

A common idiom used to illustrate optimism versus pessimism is a glass with water at the halfway

point, where the optimist is said to see the glass as half full, however the pessimist sees the glass as

half empty.

The term is originally derived from the Latin optimum, meaning "best". Being optimistic, in the typical

sense of the word, ultimately means one expects the best possible outcome from any given situation.

This is usually referred to in psychology as dis-positional optimism.

Researchers sometimes operationalize the term differently depending on their research, however.

For example, Martin Seligman and his fellow researchers define it in terms ofexplanatory style, which

is based on the way one explains life events. As for any trait characteristic, there are several ways to

evaluate optimism, such as various forms of the Life Orientation Test, for the original definition of

optimism, or the Attributional Style Questionnaire designed to test optimism in terms of explanatory

style.

While the heritability of optimism is largely debatable, most researchers agree that it seems to be

a biological trait to some small degree, but it is also thought that optimism has more to do

with environmental factors, making it a largely learned trait.[2] It has also been suggested that

optimism could appear to be a hereditary trait because it is actually a manifestation of combined

traits that are mostly heritable, like intelligence,temperament and alcoholism.[3] Optimism may also be

linked to health.[4]

Contents

  [hide] 

1 Explanatory style 2 Philosophical optimism

o 2.1 Panglossianismo 2.2 Optimalism

3 Assessmento 3.1 Life Orientation Testo 3.2 Attributional Style Questionnaire

4 Health 5 See also

6 References 7 Further reading 8 External links

Explanatory style[edit]

Explanatory style is different, though related to, the more traditional, narrower definition of optimism.

This broader concept is based on the theory that optimism and pessimism are drawn from the

particular way people explain events. There are three dimensions within typical explanations, which

include internal versus external, stable versus unstable, and global versus specific. Optimistic

justifications toward negative experiences are attributed to factors outside the self (external), are not

likely to occur consistently (unstable), and are limited specific life domains (specific). Positive

experiences would be optimistically labeled as the opposite: internal, stable, global.[5]

There is much debate about the relationship between explanatory style and optimism. Some

researchers argue that there is not much difference at all; optimism is just the lay term for what

scientists call explanatory style.[6] Others argue that explanatory style is exclusive to its concept and

should not be interchangeable with optimism.[7][8]

It is generally thought that, though they should not be used interchangeably, dispositional optimism

and explanatory style are at least marginally related. Ultimately, the problem is simply that more

research must be done to either define a "bridge" or further differentiate between these concepts. [5]

No Negativity sign outside of Unity Church of Pensacola

Philosophical optimism[edit]

Philosophers often link the concept of optimism with the name of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, who held

that we live in the best of all possible worlds, or that God created a physical universe that applies the

laws of physics, which Voltaire famously mocked in his satirical novel Candide. The philosophical

pessimism of William Godwin demonstrated perhaps even more optimism than Leibniz. He hoped

that society would eventually reach the state where calm reason would replace all violence and force,

that mind could eventually make matter subservient to it, and that intelligence could discover the

secret of immortality.

Panglossianism[edit]

The term "panglossianism" describes baseless optimism of the sort exemplified by the beliefs

of Pangloss from Voltaire's Candide, which are the opposite of his fellow

travellerMartin's pessimism and emphasis on free will. The phrase "panglossian pessimism" has

been used to describe the pessimistic position that, since this is the best of all possible worlds, it is

impossible for anything to get any better.

The panglossian paradigm is a term coined by Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Lewontin to refer to

the notion that everything has specifically adapted to suit specific purposes. Instead, they argue,

accidents andexaptation (the use of old features for new purposes) play an important role in the

process of evolution. Some other scientists however argue the implication that many (or most)

adaptionists are panglossians is a straw man.

Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our

Time Michael Shermer relates Frank J. Tipler to Voltaire's character Pangloss to show how clever

people deceive themselves. Shermer explores the psychology of scholars and business men who

give up their careers in their pursuit to broadcast their paranormal beliefs. In his last chapter, added

to the revised version, Shermer explains that "smart people" can be more susceptible to believing in

weird things.

Optimalism[edit]

Optimalism, as defined by Nicholas Rescher, holds that this universe exists because it is better than

the alternatives.[9] While this philosophy does not exclude the possibility of a deity, it also doesn't

require one, and is compatible with atheism.[10] The positive psychologist Tal Ben-Shahar uses

optimalism to mean willingness to accept failure while remaining confident that success will follow, a

positive attitude he contrasts with negativeperfectionism.[11] Perfectionism can be defined as a

persistent compulsive drive toward unattainable goals and valuation based solely in terms of

accomplishment.[12] Perfectionists reject the realities and constraints of human ability. They cannot

accept failures, delaying any ambitious and productive behavior in fear of failure again.[13] This neuroticism can even lead to clinical depression and low productivity.[14] As an alternative to

negative perfectionism Ben-Shahar suggests the adoption of optimalism. Optimalism allows for

failure in pursuit of a goal, and expects that while the trend of activity will tend towards the positive it

is not necessary to always succeed while striving to attain goals. This basis in reality prevents the

optimalist from being overwhelmed in the face of failure.[11] Optimalists accept failures and also learn

from them, which encourages further pursuit of achievement.[13] Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar believes that

Optimalists and Perfectionists show distinct different motives. Optimalists tend to have more intrinsic,

inward desires, with a motivation to learn. While perfectionists are highly motivated by a need to

consistently prove themselves worthy.[11]

Assessment[edit]

Life Orientation Test[edit]

The Life Orientation Test (LOT) was designed by Scheier and Carver (1985), and is one of the more

popular tests of optimism and pessimism. There are eight measurements (and an additional four filler

items), with four positively ("In uncertain times, I usually expect the best") and four negatively ("If

something can go wrong for me, it will") worded items.[15] The LOT has been revised twice—once by

the original creators (LOT-R) and also by Chang, Maydeu-Olivares, and D'Zurilla as the Extended

Life Orientation Test (ELOT). All three are most commonly used because they are based on

dispositional optimism, which simply means expecting positive outcomes.[16]

Attributional Style Questionnaire[edit]

This Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ) created by Peterson et al. (1982) is based on the

explanatory style definition of optimism. It lists six positive and negative events ("you have been

looking for a job unsuccessfully for some time"), and asks the respondents to record a possible

cause for the event and rate the internality, stability, and globality of the event.[17] An optimistic person

is one who perceives good things happening to them as internal, stable, and global. There are

several modified versions of the ASQ including the Expanded Attributional Style Questionnaire

(EASQ), the Content Analysis of Verbatim Explanations (CAVE), and the ASQ designed for testing

the optimism of children.[16]

Health[edit]

Research has emerged showing the relationships between several psychological constructs

and health. Optimism is one of these concepts,[18] and has been shown to explain between 5–10% of

the variation in the likelihood of developing some health conditions (correlation

coefficients between .20 and .30),[19] notably including cardiovascular disease,[20][21][22][23] stroke,[24] and depression.[25][26]

Furthermore, optimists have been shown to live healthier lifestyles which may influence disease. For

example, optimists smoke less, are more physically active, consume more fruit, vegetables and

whole-grain bread, and consume more moderate amounts of alcohol.[27]

The relationship between optimism and health has also been studied with regards to physical

symptoms, coping strategies and negative affect for those suffering from rheumatoid

arthritis, asthma, and fibromyalgia. It has been found that among individuals with these diseases,

optimists are not more likely than pessimists to report pain alleviation due to coping strategies,

despite differences in psychological well-being between the two groups.[28] A meta-analysis has

confirmed the assumption that optimism is related to psychological well-being: “Put simply, optimists

emerge from difficult circumstances with less distress than do pessimists.”[29]Furthermore, the

correlation appears to be attributable to coping style: “That is, optimists seem intent on facing

problems head-on, taking active and constructive steps to solve their problems; pessimists are more

likely to abandon their effort to attain their goals.”[29]

It should be noted that research to date has demonstrated that optimists are less likely to have

certain diseases or develop certain diseases over time. By comparison, research has not yet been

able to demonstrate the ability to change an individual's level of optimism through psychological

intervention, and thereby alter the course of disease or likelihood for development of disease.

Though in that same vein, an article by Mayo Cliniclists steps that be taken to begin the shift from a

negative to a positive/optimistic outlook.[30] In particular, the article focuses on changing self-talk from

negative to positive.[30] Some strategies include surrounding oneself with positive people, identifying

areas of change, practice positive self-talk, being open to humor, and following a healthy lifestyle. [30]

A recent meta-analysis of optimism supported past findings that optimism is positively correlated with

life satisfaction, happiness, psychological and physical well-being and negatively correlated with

depression and anxiety.[31]

A number of studies have been done on optimism and psychological well-being. One study

conducted by Aspinwall and Taylor (1990) assessed incoming freshmen on a range of personality

factors such as optimism, self-esteem, locus of self-control, etc.[32] It was found that freshmen who

scored high on optimism before entering college were reported to have lower levels of psychological

distress than their more pessimistic peers, while controlling for the other personality factors. Over

time, the more optimistic students were less stressed, less lonely, and less depressed than their

pessimistic counterparts. Thus, this study suggests a strong link between optimism and

psychological well-being.

As for evidence for optimism’s impact on physical well-being, a recent study by Joelle Jobin has

shown that in our daily lives optimist tend to respond better to stress. In the study, it was found that

pessimist generally have higher levels of cortisol (the “stress hormone”) and have trouble regulating it

in response to stressors.[33]

Another study by Scheier examined the recovery process for a number of patients that had

undergone surgery.[32] The study showed that optimism was a strong predictor of the rate of recovery.

Optimists achieved faster results in “behavioral milestones” such as sitting in bed, walking around,

etc. They also were rated by staff as having a more favorable physical recovery. In a 6 month later

follow-up, it was found that optimists were quicker to resume normal activities.