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Role stressors as predictors of changes in womens’ optimistic expectations
Abstract
Theorists have suggested that optimistic expectations can be modified by stress. The present longitudinal study predicted that stress in women’s roles would reduce optimism over one year for 182 women who occupied the roles of caregiver, mother, wife, and employee. Results revealed that while 62% of participants reported little or no change in optimism, 38% reported increases or decreases in optimism over one year. Consistent with predictions, increases in wife and employee stress predicted decreased optimism over one year. Increases in wife stress remained predictive of decreased optimism, even after considering baseline role stressors and changes in stress in the other three roles. The present findings highlight the importance of stress as a contextual factors that can change or influence optimism.
... Although many suggestions have been made in the literature for examining whether personality traits have mediating or moderating effects on work-family conflict or health outcomes, the research in this area is quite limited. Research has shown that optimism (Shen, McCreary & Meyers, 2003;Jason, Witter & Torres-Harding, 2003;Smith & Spiro, 2002;Fry, 1995;Lyons & Chamberlin, 1994;Atienza, Stephens & Townsend, 2004) is a stress buffer that is related to lower levels of stress and better health, and that, conversely, "maladaptive" perfectionism is related to adverse stress & health outcomes (Grzegorek, Slaney, Franze & Rice, 2004;Chang, Watkins & Banks, 2004;Fry,1995;O'Connor, O'Connor, O'Connor, Smallwood & Miles, 2004). ...
... While research has shown that optimism (Shen, McCreary & Meyers, 2003;Jason, Witter & Torres-Harding, 2003;Smith & Spiro, 2002;Fry, 1995;Lyons & Chamberlin, 1994;Atienza, Stephens & Townsend, 2004) is a stress buffer that is related to lower levels of stress and better health, and that, conversely, "maladaptive" perfectionism is related to adverse stress and health outcomes (Grzegorek, Slaney, Franze & Rice, 2004;Chang, Watkins & Banks, 2004;Fry,1995;O'Connor, O'Connor, O'Connor, Smallwood & Miles, 2004), this research has not been applied to work-family stress, or, for that matter, to attorneys who struggle with balancing work and family responsibilities. ...
... Prior research has also suggested that optimism provides a stress buffer that is related to lower levels of stress and better health. The present study expanded upon that research by looking at attorneys, finding that optimism provided a stress buffer for attorneys experiencing high levels of IWIF (Shen, McCreary & Meyers, 2003;Jason, Witter & Torres-Harding, 2003;Smith & Spiro, 2002;Fry, 1995;Lyons & Chamberlin, 1994;Atienza, Stephens & Townsend, 2004). Women and men who were high in optimism were found to have better overall psychological well-being and lower levels of somatization. ...
... Optimism is mainly conceptualized as a trait showing considerable stability and consistency across time and contexts (Carver et al., 2010;Costa & McCrae, 1994). However, its test-retest correlations usually lie between 0.58 and 0.79 over time periods up to 3 years (Atienza, Stephens, & Townsend, 2004;Carver et al., 2010;Scheier, Carver, & Bridges, 1994) and therefore reflect potential for both stability and change. Moreover, optimism seems to be less genetically based than other personality traits. ...
... Agesalient tasks serve as role expectations for individuals' behavior, and the accomplishment of these tasks provides resources for future developments (Roisman, Masten, Coatsworth, & Tellegen, 2004;Spinks et al., 2007). Accordingly, stressors that come up as individuals seek to fulfill social roles can diminish optimism (Atienza et al., 2004). Similarly, self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000) states that perceiving social belonging and competence in valued domains constitute psychological needs that evoke psychological well-being. ...
... Studies that used adult samples have also reported indications for influences of academic and social experiences. Atienza et al. (2004) found that problems at work predicted decreasing optimism scores in adult women. Rosenstreich and colleagues (Rosenstreich, Feldman, Davidson, Maza, & Margalit, 2015) reported lower optimism among first-year college students with learning disabilities compared to those without learning disabilities. ...
Objective
Although a growing body of research has confirmed the manifold advantages of being an optimist, only a limited body of previous research has addressed the antecedents of optimism in real‐life situations. This study examined whether parental socioeconomic status (SES), age‐salient experiences (i.e., doing well in school and perceiving acceptance from peers), and aspects of the student composition at school contribute to changes in the optimism of early adolescents.
Method
We followed a large sample of German 7th graders (N = 7272; 52.9% females; baseline Mage = 14.1) at two measurement points over a period of five months and estimated latent regression models.
Results
First, optimism showed medium‐sized rank‐order stability between both measurement points. Second, the parental SES predicted changes in optimism, but this effect was fully mediated by age‐salient experiences. Third, positive age‐salient experiences, i.e., academic achievement and perceived peer acceptance, predicted positive changes in early adolescents’ optimism. Fourth, our results suggested no effects of school peer composition.
Conclusion
The findings broaden our current knowledge about antecedents of changes in optimism during early adolescence by highlighting the effects of positive age‐salient experiences, namely academic achievement and perceived acceptance from peers.
This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
... Although our result is in accord with a previous study showing no intergenerational transmission of dispositional optimism (Brewin, Andrews, & Furnham, 1996), it seems difficult to explain. One possible explanation is that dispositional optimism is relatively Downloaded by [University of Tasmania] at 17:31 03 October 2013 modifiable and less stable even among adults (Atienza, Stephens, & Townsend, 2004). In parallel, life stressors were found to undermine dispositional optimism (Atienza et al., 2004;Robinson-Whelen, Kim, MacCallum, & Kiecolt-Glaser, 1997). ...
... One possible explanation is that dispositional optimism is relatively Downloaded by [University of Tasmania] at 17:31 03 October 2013 modifiable and less stable even among adults (Atienza, Stephens, & Townsend, 2004). In parallel, life stressors were found to undermine dispositional optimism (Atienza et al., 2004;Robinson-Whelen, Kim, MacCallum, & Kiecolt-Glaser, 1997). Although much work remains to be done, dispositional optimism appears to be influenced by contextual factors and life experiences (Atienza et al., 2004;Robinson-Whelen et al., 1997). ...
... In parallel, life stressors were found to undermine dispositional optimism (Atienza et al., 2004;Robinson-Whelen, Kim, MacCallum, & Kiecolt-Glaser, 1997). Although much work remains to be done, dispositional optimism appears to be influenced by contextual factors and life experiences (Atienza et al., 2004;Robinson-Whelen et al., 1997). ...
Although dispositional optimism serves as a resource for psychological and physical well-being, very little research has explored how to promote child dispositional optimism within the family context. The authors evaluated paternal emotional expressiveness within the family as a mediator of the association between father's and child's dispositional optimism. Participants were 422 father (M age = 44.97 years, SD = 4.21 years)-child (M age = 11.75 years, SD = 0.77 years) dyads in South Korea. Results showed that fathers' dispositional optimism was positively linked to their expressiveness, which in turn was positively linked to their children's dispositional optimism. No significant gender or socioeconomic status differences were found. The findings have important implications for future research and for preventive interventions.
... Although many suggestions have been made in the literature for examining whether personality traits have mediating or moderating effects on work-family conflict or health outcomes, the research in this area is quite limited. Research has shown that optimism (Shen, McCreary & Meyers, 2003;Jason, Witter & Torres-Harding, 2003;Smith & Spiro, 2002;Fry, 1995;Lyons & Chamberlin, 1994;Atienza, Stephens & Townsend, 2004) is a stress buffer that is related to lower levels of stress and better health, and that, conversely, "maladaptive" perfectionism is related to adverse stress & health outcomes (Grzegorek, Slaney, Franze & Rice, 2004;Chang, Watkins & Banks, 2004;Fry,1995;O'Connor, O'Connor, O'Connor, Smallwood & Miles, 2004). ...
... While research has shown that optimism (Shen, McCreary & Meyers, 2003;Jason, Witter & Torres-Harding, 2003;Smith & Spiro, 2002;Fry, 1995;Lyons & Chamberlin, 1994;Atienza, Stephens & Townsend, 2004) is a stress buffer that is related to lower levels of stress and better health, and that, conversely, "maladaptive" perfectionism is related to adverse stress and health outcomes (Grzegorek, Slaney, Franze & Rice, 2004;Chang, Watkins & Banks, 2004;Fry,1995;O'Connor, O'Connor, O'Connor, Smallwood & Miles, 2004), this research has not been applied to work-family stress, or, for that matter, to attorneys who struggle with balancing work and family responsibilities. ...
... Prior research has also suggested that optimism provides a stress buffer that is related to lower levels of stress and better health. The present study expanded upon that research by looking at attorneys, finding that optimism provided a stress buffer for attorneys experiencing high levels of IWIF (Shen, McCreary & Meyers, 2003;Jason, Witter & Torres-Harding, 2003;Smith & Spiro, 2002;Fry, 1995;Lyons & Chamberlin, 1994;Atienza, Stephens & Townsend, 2004). Women and men who were high in optimism were found to have better overall psychological well-being and lower levels of somatization. ...
The present study considers the relationships among work-family interference, and physical health, psychological health, and health risk behaviors. A mediation model proposed that these relationships among work-family interference and health outcomes would be mediated by strain-based work-family conflict. Two moderation models were also proposed. In those circumstances in which the mediation model was not rejected, it was proposed that optimism, perfectionism, and gender would moderate the relationships among strain-based work-family conflict and health outcomes. When the mediation model was rejected, it was proposed that the hypothesized moderators would alter the relationships among work-family interference and health outcomes. Data were collected from 236 practicing attorneys (61% female) on-line, as well as in-person. As a whole, the men and women in this sample reported fairly similar experiences in terms of overall stress levels, work-family stress, strain, psychological health, health risk behaviors and personality traits. They also were about average compared to their counterparts nationally in terms of their overall psychological health. The overall findings suggest that attorneys who have difficulty balancing work and family life are at a significantly greater risk of experiencing strain and decreased psychological well-being. While most findings apply equally to men and women, there is some suggestion that women attorneys who report the highest levels of external family-interference-with-work also experience the lowest levels of psychological well-being. The findings also suggest that strain-based work-family conflict is most influential as a mediator between internal work-family interference and health-relevant outcomes. With regard to dispositional traits, the findings strongly suggest that "bad" perfectionism exerts a pervasive direct negative influence on the psychological well-being of the attorneys in this sample. Maladaptive perfectionism also interacts with high levels of external- and internal-work-interference-with-family, such that attorneys reporting more "bad" perfectionism and who experience the highest levels of work-to-family interference are the most susceptible to poorer psychological health outcomes. In addition, optimism appears to provide a strong buffering role for attorneys who report the highest levels of internal work-interference-with-family, although the manifestation of this relationship differs based on gender, with the greatest buffering effect being evident for men.
... Although past decades have witnessed an exponential growth in the number of studies seeking to examine the caregiving experience, this research has relied largely on convenience sampling. Although the strategies used to develop convenience samples vary, with some studies using the circulation of fliers and media ads (e.g., Atienza & Stephens, 2000;Atienza, Stephens, & Townsend, 2004;Brummett et al., 2006;Pot, Zarit, Twisk, & Townsend, 2005); others recruiting from community sources such as home health agencies, local clinics, or health care providers (Beach et al., 2005;Cicirelli, 2003;Fekete, Stephens, Druley, & Greene, 2006;Gallagher-Thompson et al., 2000;Gaugler, Leitsch, Zarit, & Pearlin, 2000;Matthews, Dunbar-Jacob, Sereika, Schulz, & McDowell, 2004;Stephens, Martire, Cremeans-Smith, Druley, & Wojno, 2006); and still others using a combination of these approaches (e.g., Bass, Tausig, & Noelker, 1988;Ducharme, Levesque, Zarit, Lachance, & Giroux, 2007;Sorensen & Zarit, 1996), the extent to which the knowledge generated from studies relying on convenience samples is generalizable to the wider population of caregivers remains unknown. ...
... A broad combination of strategies similar to those used by other caregiver researchers (Atienza et al., 2004;Bass et al., 1988;Brummett et al., 2006;Ducharme et al., 2007;Pot et al., 2005) was used to identify the convenience sample. These included word of mouth, snowballing, or direct contact with project staff (22.6%); press releases placed in local newspapers and magazines (48.7%); and postings on Web sites of well-recognized, widely respected national nonprofit agencies and professional societies for various social services and health care professionals (28.7%). ...
... Identifying and recruiting members of rare populations such as family caregivers from treatment settings where they tend to cluster or by using broad-based community networking strategies is likely to yield significant numbers of potential respondents. Yet questions about the generalizability of findings pervade the discussion sections of articles that use these recruitment strategies (Atienza et al., 2004;Ducharme et al., 2007;Miller et al., 2006). Only a few studies have examined the extent to which knowledge generated from convenience samples can be generalized to a broader population. ...
We contrast characteristics of respondents recruited using convenience strategies with those of respondents recruited by random digit dial (RDD) methods. We compare sample variances, means, and interrelationships among variables generated from the convenience and RDD samples.
Women aged 50 to 64 who work full time and provide care to a community-dwelling older person were recruited using either RDD (N = 55) or convenience methods (N = 87). Telephone interviews were conducted using reliable, valid measures of demographics, characteristics of the care recipient, help provided to the care recipient, evaluations of caregiver-care recipient relationship, and outcomes common to caregiving research.
Convenience and RDD samples had similar variances on 68.4% of the examined variables. We found significant mean differences for 63% of the variables examined. Bivariate correlations suggest that one would reach different conclusions using the convenience and RDD sample data sets.
Researchers should use convenience samples cautiously, as they may have limited generalizability.
... Dispositional optimism, as its name implies, is generally stable, with test-retest rs of .58 -. 79 over periods lasting from a few weeks to 3 years (Atienza, Stephens, & Townsend, 2004;Lucas, Diener, & Suh, 1996;Scheier & Carver, 1985;Scheier, Carver, & Bridges, 1994). However, these correlations reflect overlapping variance of only 33-62% between two administrations. ...
... -.80; e.g., Scheier et al., 1994), these correlations reflect the potential for change as well as stability. In a direct test of the proposition that changes in life circumstances can lead to changes in optimism, Atienza et al. (2004) examined changes in optimism over 1 year as a function of problems at work and in relationships among adult women. As problems at work and with their spouses increased, women's optimism scores dropped; conversely, as problems decreased, optimism scores increased. ...
... Dispositional optimism showed significantly lower test-retest reliability in this study than in other studies employing shorter intervals and was also less stable than other personality traits such as neuroticism, extraversion, and conscientiousness over similar intervals (Atienza et al., 2004;Costa & McCrae, 1994;Scheier & Carver, 1985;Scheier et al., 1994). One potential explanation is that dispositional optimism is less genetically based than many other personality traits (Plomin et al., 1992) and by process of elimination must therefore be more influenced by the environment and especially, as suggested here and elsewhere, by the accumulation of available resources, both social and status, in that environment (Atienza et al., 2004;c.f., Neyer & Asendorpf, 2001). ...
Dispositional optimism may be associated with growth of social and status resources by virtue of optimists' greater persistence and better performance. Conversely, resource growth may give people a more positive view of their future and increase optimism. Changes in dispositional optimism and resources over 10 years were examined in former law students (N = 61). More optimistic first-year law students made more money 10 years later, but income did not predict later optimism. More optimistic students did not have larger social networks 10 years later, but increases in social network size predicted increased optimism. These changes predicted mental and physical health. Dispositional optimism was less stable than many personality traits (r = .35), potentially because it is responsive to resource change.
... We created a composite score of hope by combining the optimism and pessimism items (first reversed scored), with higher scores reflecting greater optimism. This cumulative scoring method has been commonly utilised in previous research (e.g., Atienza, Stephens, & Townsend, 2004;Feldman et al., 2015;Hinz et al., 2017). Scores on the full LOT-R, including filler items, have demonstrated good internal consistency within a student sample (α between .7 and .8; ...
... Scheier et al., 1994) and test-retest reliability evidence (.58 to .79; Atienza et al., 2004) in a female sample (Mage = 43.7). (Smith et al., 2008). ...
Stress is an important consideration for understanding why individuals take part in limited or no physical activity (PA). The effects of stress on PA does not hold for everyone, so examinations of possible moderators that protect individuals from the harmful effects of stress are required. Aligned with a resilience framework, individual resources (e.g., hope, self-efficacy) may buffer the maladaptive effects of stress, such that people who have access to these resources in greater quantity may be more “resilient” to the deleterious effects of stress on PA. This study was designed to test this expectation. In total, 140 Australian undergraduate students (70.7% female, Mage = 21.68 ± 4.88) completed a multi-section survey, and provided a sample for hair cortisol concentration (HCC) analysis using immunoassays. Main effects demonstrated primarily small and non-significant associations between perceived stress and HCC with different intensities of PA. Similar findings were observed between individual-level resilience resources and PA intensities, with the exception of hope (i.e., positive association with vigorous PA and negative association with sitting), self-efficacy (i.e., positive association with vigorous PA), and resilience (i.e., positive association with walking). Although certain individual-level resilience resources were perceived as beneficial for PA and sedentary time, the moderating role of resilience resources was not supported by the findings. The direct and moderating effects between stress, PA and resilience resources require further testing using longitudinal designs in which stressful periods occur naturally (e.g., exams for students) or are experimentally manipulated.
... We created a composite score of hope by combining the optimism and pessimism items (first reversed scored), with higher scores reflecting greater optimism. This cumulative scoring method has been commonly utilised in previous research (e.g., Atienza, Stephens, & Townsend, 2004;Feldman et al., 2015;Hinz et al., 2017). Scores on the full LOT-R, including filler items, have demonstrated good internal consistency within a student sample (α between .7 and .8; ...
... Scheier et al., 1994) and test-retest reliability evidence (.58 to .79; Atienza et al., 2004) in a female sample (Mage = 43.7). (Smith et al., 2008). ...
Stress is an important consideration for understanding why individuals take part in limited or no physical activity (PA). The effects of stress on PA does not hold for everyone, so examinations of possible moderators that protect individuals from the harmful effects of stress are required. Aligned with a resilience framework, individual resources (e.g., hope, self-efficacy) may buffer the maladaptive effects of stress, such that people who have access to these resources in greater quantity may be more “resilient” to the deleterious effects of stress on PA. This study was designed to test this expectation. In total, 140 Australian undergraduate students (70.7% female, Mage = 21.68 ± 4.88) completed a multi-section survey, and provided a sample for hair cortisol concentration (HCC) analysis using immunoassays. Main effects demonstrated primarily small and non-significant associations between perceived stress and HCC with different intensities of PA. Similar findings were observed between individual-level resilience resources and PA intensities, with the exception of hope (i.e., positive association with vigorous PA and negative association with sitting), self-efficacy (i.e., positive association with vigorous PA), and resilience (i.e., positive association with walking). Although certain individual-level resilience resources were perceived as beneficial for PA and sedentary time, the moderating role of resilience resources was not supported by the findings. The direct and moderating effects between stress, PA and resilience resources require further testing using longitudinal designs in which stressful periods occur naturally (e.g., exams for students) or are experimentally manipulated.
... To distinguish unrealistic expectations from merely optimistic expectations, it is necessary to consider the basis upon which people decide that there is reason for optimism (see Tennen & Affleck, 1987). In this regard, it should be considered that although dispositional optimism is generally assumed to be stable, it is also shaped by individual experiences (Atienza, Stephens, & Townsend, 2004;Segerstrom, 2007). For instance, growing up in socioeconomically advantaged households is associated with optimism in adulthood (Heinonen et al., 2006;Korkeila et al., 2004). ...
... A third limitation is that we found a relatively low stability of our optimism measure between the middle and end of seventh grade (r = .33). This is partly in line with previous research that also found dispositional optimism to be less stable than most personality traits, potentially due to a particularly high responsiveness to changes in resources and a weaker genetic basis (e.g., Atienza, Stephens, & Townsend, 2004;Segerstrom, 2007). In our study, the particularly young age of the participants and the extensive and fundamental challenges and changes during early adolescence (e.g., seventh grade is the first school year of secondary schooling in some federal states in Germany) may additionally contribute to the low stability. ...
Objective:
Although optimism's beneficial role for various life areas is well documented, previous findings regarding its significance for students' achievement at school are inconclusive. This study examined the relation between optimism and academic achievement in early adolescents. It investigated the functional form of this relation, addressed whether the initial achievement level moderates this association, and compared this with effects on self-esteem.
Method:
We used a large German sample (N = 6010; 53.2% females; baseline Mage = 14.1) with two measurement points over a period of 6 months (middle and end of seventh grade). Estimating LOESS curves and latent change-regression models revealed three main findings: Results: (1) Optimism showed a nonlinear association with subsequent changes in academic achievement: Optimism promoted academic achievement, but this positive association reached a plateau in above-average optimism ranges and a minimum value in below-average ranges of optimism. (2) The achievement level at t1 moderated this relation so that high optimism exerted a more positive effect for high-achieving adolescents. (3) By contrast, optimism had an overall positive effect on self-esteem.
Conclusions:
The results therefore broaden the evidence on benefits of optimism by linking optimism to academic success in early adolescents but indicate only small and nonlinear associations. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
... Seeking autonomy may help youth to develop a sense of mastery and control about the future, which would promote their optimism (Heinonen et al., 2006). Meanwhile, the rapid biological, social, and psychological changes may bring youth stress and further erode their optimism (Atienza, Stephens, & Townsend, 2004). So we hypothesized optimism would have little change during these periods. ...
... As we hypothesized, optimism had little change with age, while pessimism decreased with age. Although seeking autonomy may help youth to enhance optimism (Eisenberg & Morris, 2004;Heinonen et al., 2006), biosocial and psychological changes and especially the pressure for the entrance may make youth experience more and more negative emotions, which would further erode optimism (Atienza et al., 2004) and cause optimism to decline slightly during these periods. However, we also observed that fifth graders had the highest value in optimism, which mainly contributed to the age effect. ...
Research has demonstrated the important roles of dispositional optimism played in individuals' life quality. But little is known about age differences in dispositional optimism especially in late childhood and adolescence. This study examined age differences in dispositional optimism in Chinese children and adolescents (N = 2738; M age = 12.75 years; SD = 2.53; age range 9–19). Results revealed that the bi-dimensional structure of disposi-tional optimism (i.e., optimism and pessimism) was similar in each grade. Optimism had a negative linear pattern with age. Pessimism decreased from strongly to weakly, showing a curvilinear pattern with age. Overall optimism (representing the presence of optimism and the lack of pessimism) had a positive linear relationship with age. Moreover, only the development of pessimism was moderated by gender and family socioeconomic status. These findings suggest that dispositional optimism varies by age, and that optimism and pessimism are partially independent.
... For instance, declines in optimism have been observed among women recovering from coronary artery surgery (K. B. King, Rowe, Kimble, & Zerwic, 1998), caregivers of stroke patients (Schulz, Tompkins, & Rau, 1988), and among individuals experiencing recent family role stress (Atienza, Stephens, & Townsend, 2004). In sum, evidence suggests that significant life events, particularly those that are negative and stressful, have the power to alter one's perceptions of the future. ...
... In general, our sample was well adjusted, yet consistent with prior work (e.g., Paradies, 2006), racial discrimination had a deleterious impact on their well-being; we found that increases in racial discrimination over 2 years predicted increases in depressive symptoms and decreases in optimism over the same period. These findings regarding the effects of racial discrimination not only corroborate research linking race-related events to negative psychological sequelae like depressive symptoms (R. Clark et al., 1999) but also suggest that significant negative life events can alter levels of dispositional optimism (Atienza et al., 2004). We hypothesized that social support for racial discrimination would make a unique contribution to reducing depressive symptoms and enhancing optimism. ...
The present longitudinal study examined the role of general and tailored social support in mitigating the deleterious impact of racial discrimination on depressive symptoms and optimism in a large sample of African American women. Participants were 590 African American women who completed measures assessing racial discrimination, general social support, tailored social support for racial discrimination, depressive symptoms, and optimism at two time points (2001-2002 and 2003-2004). Our results indicated that higher levels of general and tailored social support predicted optimism one year later; changes in both types of support also predicted changes in optimism over time. Although initial levels of neither measure of social support predicted depressive symptoms over time, changes in tailored support predicted changes in depressive symptoms. We also sought to determine whether general and tailored social support "buffer" or diminish the negative effects of racial discrimination on depressive symptoms and optimism. Our results revealed a classic buffering effect of tailored social support, but not general support on depressive symptoms for women experiencing high levels of discrimination.
... secure attachment to caregivers, self-esteem, and financial security) [89][90][91] contribute to one's level of optimism. Although optimism has been defined as an enduring personality trait, optimism levels can change over time [92,93]. More importantly, optimism is modifiable by psychological interventions [94]. ...
Objectives
The field of pain psychology has taken significant steps forward during the last decades and the way we think about how to treat chronic pain has radically shifted from a biomedical perspective to a biopsychosocial model. This change in perspective has led to a surge of accumulating research showing the importance of psychological factors as determinants for debilitating pain. Vulnerability factors, such as pain-related fear, pain catastrophizing and escape/avoidant behaviours may increase the risk of disability. As a result, psychological treatment that has emerged from this line of thinking has mainly focused on preventing and decreasing the adverse impact of chronic pain by reducing these negative vulnerability factors. Recently, another shift in thinking has emerged due to the field of positive psychology, which aims to have a more complete and balanced scientific understanding of the human experience, by abandoning the exclusive focus on vulnerability factors towards including protective factors.
Methods
The authors have summarised and reflected on the current state-of-the-art of pain psychology from a positive psychology perspective.
Results
Optimism is an important factor that may in fact buffer and protect against pain chronicity and disability. Resulting treatment approaches from a positive psychology perspective are aimed at increasing protective factors, such as optimism, to increase resilience towards the negative effects of pain.
Conclusions
We propose that the way forward in pain research and treatment is the inclusion of both vulnerability and protective factors . Both have unique roles in modulating the experience of pain, a finding that had been neglected for too long. Positive thinking and pursuing valued goals can make one’s life gratifying and fulfilling, despite experiencing chronic pain.
... Future studies of these relationships warrant repeated measures of PA. Studies also demonstrate that participant optimism levels are relatively stable (Carver et al., 2010) over a few weeks to 10 years with relatively high test-retest reliability ranging from 0.58 to 0.79 (Atienza et al., 2004;Matthews et al., 2004). Finally, research supports that state positive affect demonstrates statistical overlap with trait positive affect (Pressman et al., 2019). ...
Psychological well-being is linked to healthy aging in older women, but associations with health behaviors are not well understood. Our study aims to evaluate the relationships between objectively-measured physical behavior (including physical activity and sedentary behavior) with optimism and positive affect in a diverse sample of older women. Our cross-sectional study of 4168 American women (aged 63–99) with accelerometer-measured physical behavior from the Objective Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Health Study assessed associations using multiple linear regression. Effect modification by age, race and ethnicity, social support, and number of chronic conditions was examined as well. In unadjusted models, positive associations for physical activity and negative associations for sedentary behaviors were generally linear for optimism and positive affect. In adjusted models, every one-hour increment in weekly moderate-vigorous physical activity was associated with higher optimism by 0.4 score points [Revised 6-item Life Orientation Test, 95% CI = 0.2, 0.6] and positive affect by 0.6 score points [modified Differential Emotions Scale, 95% CI = 0.2, 0.9]. One-hour increments in light physical activity were associated with higher positive affect [0.2 score points; 95% CI = 0.03, 0.33] while one-hour increments in sedentary behavior patterns were associated with lower positive affect [-0.1 score points; 95% CI = − 0.10, − 0.02). Effect modification by age, race and ethnicity, social support, and number of chronic conditions was not observed. In conclusion, associations between physical behavior with optimism and positive affect were modest but suggest greater activity and less sedentary time are associated with greater psychological well-being in older women.
... Our work further shows that optimism moderates the interplay between health anxiety and adolescent cyberchondria, which suggests that optimism is conducive to alleviating excessive health anxiety and cyberchondria. Previously studies have shown that optimism can vary in response to situational changes [84,85], which means there are effective ways to intervene in terms of optimism. For example, many researchers utilized the Best Possible Self Intervention, wherein individuals receive a combination of self-compassion training and are encouraged to visualize and develop goals for an ideal future version of themselves [86,87]. ...
Cyberchondria has become a severe health problem and a significant public concern. In addition to the impacts that cyberchondria involves, individual psychological and behavioral factors have been identified. However, the role of family function and the mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying these relations are not understood well, especially among adolescents. Based on family functioning and cognitive-behavioral theory, this study sought to examine whether family dysfunction was associated with cyberchondria, and a moderated mediation model was prepared as a means of exploring whether health anxiety was a mediator of relationships between family dysfunction and cyberchondria, as well as whether optimism moderated these mediating processes. A total of 2074 Chinese adolescents (mean = 15.08 years, SD = 1.79) reported their demographic information, family dysfunction, health anxiety, optimism, and cyberchondria. The findings showed that family dysfunction was positively related to cyberchondria. Moreover, health anxiety partially mediated the relationship between family dysfunction and cyberchondria. Finally, optimism moderated the interplay among health anxiety and cyberchondria. Consistent with the expectancy-value models, this positive relationship was weaker for adolescents with a higher level of optimism. These results suggest that it is vital to simultaneously consider individual and family factors as a means of understanding adolescent cyberchondria when performing cyberchondria intervention programs.
... However, the lack of expectation of any improvements in the near future combined with the decreased satisfaction with services when compared to noncompound caregivers is concerning. Not expecting any improvement in the near future can be explained by the multiple life roles that compound caregivers typically assume that often contribute to greater stress in older caregivers (Atienza et al., 2004;Oliveira et al., 2017). The chasm of services in supporting adults with I/DD after they exit the educational system also contributes to the distress experienced by compound caregivers (Marsack-Topolewski, 2020b). ...
Using the theoretical lens of Family Quality of Life, this study evaluated perceptions of older compound caregivers (i.e., caring for more than one family member) regarding their need for services. Quantitative analysis of cross-sectional data collected from 112 caregivers (50 years and older) demonstrated that compound caregivers faced more barriers in accessing services for their families than noncompound caregivers. Although all caregivers shared similar perceptions on the importance, opportunities, initiative, and attainment of service support for their families, compound caregivers had lower stability and satisfaction than noncompound caregivers. Findings highlight the need to develop support programs to equip older caregivers in managing their daily challenges at the individual and family level.
... Consistent with extant evidence that optimism changes in response to changing life circumstances [13], the results for the second hypothesis indicated that both pain interference and goal-directed activity predicted changes in optimism over 2 years. Activities specifically related to pain (such as exercise and engaging in support groups) can increase optimism [15,16] as can social connection [13] and lower role stress [34]. All of these activities can be understood more broadly as "goal-directed activities." ...
Background
Pain interferes with people’s daily lives and often limits the extent to which they can pursue goals and engage in activities that promote well-being. However, people vary in how much interference they experience at a given level of pain.
Purpose
The present study tested how optimism affects and is affected by pain interference and goal-directed activity among older women.
Methods
Every 3 months for 2 years, community-dwelling middle- and older-age women (N = 199) completed online daily diaries at home for a 7 day period, in which they reported their daily pain, pain interference, and goal-directed activity. Optimism was measured at the start and end of the study. Multilevel models tested the between- and within-person relationships among pain, optimism, and pain interference or goal-directed activity. Linear regression predicted change in optimism over 2 years from pain interference and goal-directed activity.
Results
Pain best predicted pain interference and optimism best predicted goal-directed activity. There were subtle interactions between optimism and pain-predicting interference and goal-directed activity. Accumulated goal-directed activity and pain interference across the study predicted longitudinal changes in optimism, with higher activity and lower pain interference predicting increased optimism over 2 years.
Conclusions
Optimism may play a protective role in disruptions caused by pain on a day-to-day basis, leading to increased goal-directed activity and possibly decreased pain interference. In turn, less interference and more goal-directed activity feed forward into increased optimism, resulting in a virtuous cycle that enhances optimism and well-being among older women.
... et al., 2016) and test-retest reliability evidence (r = .73; Atienza, Stephens, & Townsend, 2004). Internal reliability evidence in the current sample was sound (α = .81). ...
Adversities refer to events that are characterised by perceived or actual threat to human functioning. Often considered deleterious for health and well-being, recent work supports an alternative picture of the effects of adversity on human functioning, such that a moderate amount of adversity – when compared with none or high levels – can be beneficial. We extend this body of work in the current study by considering the breadth or type of adversities experienced simultaneously (referred to as polyadversity), with a focus on individual profiles of lifetime adversities. Latent class analysis was employed to explore different configurations of lifetime adversity experiences in two independent samples, and examine how these latent classes differed with regard to resilience resources (i.e., optimism, hope, self-efficacy, and bounce-back ability). University students (N=348) and members from the broader community (N=1506) completed measures of lifetime adversity exposure and resilience resources. Three polyadversity classes were revealed in each sample, with both producing a high and a low polyadverstiy class. The third class differed between samples; in the student sample this class represented experiences of vicarious adversity, whereas in the community sample it represented moderate levels of exposure to adversity. Support for the adaptive nature of a moderate amount of adversity exposure was found in the community sample but not in the student sample. This study produces initial evidence of how lifetime adversity experiences group together and how class membership is related to resilience resources.
... Researchers typically assess dispositional optimism as a continuous, bipolar construct, ranging from high levels of pessimism to high levels of optimism (Carver & Scheier, 1985). Stability in dispositional optimism has been observed over periods of a few months to several years with test-retest reliabilities ranging from .58 to .79 (e.g., Atienza, Stephens, & Townsend, 2004;Lucas, Diener, & Suh, 1996;Matthews, Raikkonen, Sutton-Tyrrell, & Kuller, 2004;Scheier, Carver, & Bridges, 1994). ...
Despite the robust link between dispositional optimism and well-being across the lifespan, the developmental origins of dispositional optimism are unknown. Understanding the pathways that lead to greater optimism during the transition from adolescence into young adulthood may be important given that this stage of the life course involves the navigation of multiple simultaneous psychosocial demands. Maternal attachment security may contribute to greater optimism by promoting perceptions of internal control. Participants were 218 European American children (98 females; 120 males), who completed self-report measures across four waves. A path analysis tested the associations between maternal attachment security (ages 10 and 14), locus of control (age 14), dispositional optimism (ages 18 and 23), and psychological well-being (age 23). Tests of indirect effects showed that greater perceptions of internal control at age 14 mediated the association between age 10 maternal attachment security and age 18 dispositional optimism. Age 18 dispositional optimism mediated associations between age 14 internal control and age 23 psychological well-being. Maternal attachment security may promote dispositional optimism through a greater internal locus of control in adolescence. Given that optimism promotes well-being throughout the lifespan, identifying the pathways through which optimism develops may contribute to understanding how to promote well-being.
... Although we do not dispute these findings, there is evidence that future expectations also vary in response to life circumstances (Heinonen, Räikkönen, & Keltikangas-Järvinen, 2005;Heinonen et al., 2006;Korkeila et al., 2004). For example, during the course of a year, optimism varies in response to work problems and relationship problems (Atienza, Stephens, & Townsend, 2004). Most likely, resources and future expectations have a reciprocal relationship, where optimistic expectations of the future help people gain resources by increasing sense of self-efficacy and leading persistent effort in the present (Carver, Scheier, & Segerstrom, 2010;Fredrickson, 2001) which, if people are successful in their quest, in return can increase optimism. ...
In this research, we investigated how relative resource assessments relate to future expectations. In previous research, resources are typically studied separately, and contextual influences and reference-point dependencies are often ignored. We addressed this in an online survey in which Icelanders (N = 611) assessed their economic, temporal, social, and emotional resources using four reference points (wants, others, past, future). We used exploratory factor analysis to reduce the four resources into three reliable factors: economic, temporal, and socio-emotional resources. Using hierarchical regression we found that assessments of socio-emotional and economic resources were related to future expectations, even after controlling for more objective resource markers, such as income and education. This relationship was strongest when past resources were used as the reference point for assessing current resources. We interpret these findings as suggesting that temporal comparisons to the past become more salient during times of instability, as Icelanders have recently gone through much economic and political turmoil. A psychological challenge for individuals recovering from economic collapse is to abstain from comparing current with past resource levels, as it elicits a loss experience. Overcoming a feeling that “it was better before” seems vital in re-establishing optimistic future expectations.
... Previous studies have shown that individuals' optimism levels are reasonably stable (Atienza et al. 2004;Lucas et al. 1996;Matthews et al. 2004). In particular, Matthews et al. (2004) note a test-retest correlation of 0.71 across a 10.4 year period in a group of middle-aged women, which means that individuals' optimism does not frequently change over time. ...
Caregiving for grandchildren is becoming common and plays an important role in the childcare system in many countries. This study examines whether caregiving for grandchildren has a causal effect on grandparents’ cognitive functioning, using a longitudinal survey of older Koreans. To assess the causal relationship, we estimate a fixed-effects instrumental variable model by using the presence of a married child and a child aged 31–40 years as instruments. The estimation results reveal that caregiving for grandchildren significantly improves grandparents’ cognitive functioning. Caregiving for grandchildren is predicted to improve global cognitive functioning score by 30.05%, orientation score by 19.85%, delayed recall score by 95.58%, and language ability score by 30.10%. In addition, the effect of grandparent caregiving is salient among females as well as lower-income and less educated groups. Our findings suggest that caregiving for grandchildren, which is one of the most common forms of informal care, may play a complementary role to formal care.
... Given the trait-like conceptualization of dispositional optimism, one can assume that optimism, like the big five traits, also has a high degree of stability. Some studies have supported this assumption through test-retest correlations, which were relatively high and ranged from 0.58 to 0.79 (Allison, Guichard, & Gilain, 2000;Atienza, Stephens, & Townsend, 2004;Giltay, Kamphuis, Kalmijin, Zitman, & Kromhout, 2006;Matthews, Raikkonen, Sutton-Tyrell, & Kuller, 2004;Stiegelis et al., 2003). All these studies used the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R; Scheier, Carver, & Bridges, 1994) to measure optimism. ...
We used the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R) as a unidimensional scale to investigate the stability of dispositional optimism and compared the results with the stability of anxiety and depression. Five hundred and twelve women completed the LOT-R and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale before follow-up mammography and 4 weeks after receiving the result (breast cancer or not). This study shows that dispositional optimism is relatively stable and is not influenced by receiving a cancer diagnosis.
... It has good internal reliability with alpha coefficients between .7 and .8 (Scheier et al. 1994) and test-retest reliability of .58 to .79 over 28 months (Atienza et al. 2004). The Trait Hope Scale (Snyder et al. 1991) assessed trait hope using 12 items with an 8-point Likert rating scale from 1 (definitely false) to 8 (definitely true). ...
Transition to university is stressful and successful adjustment is imperative for well-being. Historically research on transitional stress focussed on negative outcomes and ill health. This is the first UK study applying a positive psychology approach to investigate the characteristics that facilitate adjustment among new university students. A range of psychological strengths conceptualised as covitality factors, shown individually to influence the stress and subjective well-being (SWB) relationship were assessed among 192 first year UK undergraduates in week three of their first semester and again 6 months later. Path analyses revealed that optimism mediated the relationship between stress and negative affect (a component of SWB) over time, and academic self-efficacy demonstrated significant relationships with life satisfaction and positive affect. Contrary to predictions, stress levels remained stable over time although academic alienation increased and self-efficacy decreased. Optimism emerged as a key factor for new students to adjust to university, helping to buffer the impact of stress on well-being throughout the academic year. Incorporating stress management and psycho-educational interventions to develop strengths is discussed as a way of promoting confidence and agency in new students to help them cope better with the stress at university. Copyright
... Despite the fact this trait is understood to be stable in time, contexts and situations (Schou et al., 2005;Schulman et al., 1993), some researchers have recently argued optimism to be a dynamic psychological process that affects the cognition and behavior of an individual (Jiang et al., 2014;Peterson, 2000;Segerstrom, 2007). This argument is in line with the social-cognition perspective according to which contextual factors can exert an influence on cognitive structures and processes that, in turn, have an impact on personality traits (Atienza et al., 2004;Bandura, 1999). This view is also coherent with a broader theoretical approach, namely the socio-ecological approach; theorizing that mind and behavior are shaped in part by their natural and social habitats, which are in turn shaped partly by mind and behavior (Oishi and Graham, 2010). ...
This study reports an analysis of the training objectives achieved by students with a heterogeneous educational background who attended a university entrepreneurial course. The course emphasized an experiential approach of a start-up creation. A pre-experimental design was followed to collect data on a sample of fourteen students who completed the six-month course. Findings, based on a non-parametric test, show significant differences between the pre and post-test. After the course, participants displayed a higher level of self-efficacy in making decisions, a higher level of probability of becoming entrepreneurs and a lower level of pessimism in projecting their future. Despite deserving to be corroborated with a more sophisticated research design, this study contributes to the extant literature by providing further empirical support about the role played by entrepreneurial courses in fostering harbinger variables of entrepreneurial behavior. Future research issues and practical implications are illustrated with respect to optimism and pessimism.
... El factor Optimismo ha sido ampliamente estudiado aunque su estabilidad en el tiempo es discutida, encontrando algunos estudios una elevada correlación (Atienza, Stephens & Townsend, 2004), mientras que otros indican cambios en los niveles de optimismo ante las diferentes situaciones a las que el sujeto debe enfrentarse (Segerstrom, 2007;Sweeny, Carroll & Shepperd, 2006). Optimismo y pesimismo son definidos como expectativas o creencias generalizadas positivas y/o negativas que el sujeto tiene acerca de su futuro (Scheier & Carver, 1985. ...
Este trabajo analiza la influencia del Optimismo Disposicional y los Cinco Grandes factores de la personalidad en la percepción de salud de los mayores, así como el análisis que optimistas y pesimistas realizan respecto a su salud. La muestra está formada de 498 personas mayores (M = 63.3 años y DE = 8.55). Los resultados ponen de manifiesto que las personas optimistas muestran mejor percepción de su salud y menores niveles de Disfunción Social y Depresión. El factor Neuroticismo influye en los Síntomas Somáticos, Ansiedad, Disfunción Social y Depresión y es un factor clave en la relación que se establece entre el Optimismo Disposicional y la subescala de Depresión. Por otra parte, el Optimismo, solo influye directamente en la subescala Disfunción Social.
... 2002). Additionally , at least in women, optimistic expec tations may change over time in response to role changes that are perceived as 226 Biohehaviora l Resilience to Stress 2 Resilience and Personal ity 227 being outside the individual's control (Atienza, Stephens & Townsend, 2004). There is also evidence that individuals with an internal locus of control, who tend to assume responsibility for the outcomes of their own actions (Rotter, 1966), may feel particularly threatened by uncontrollab le events (Tomaka & Blascovich, 1994;Tomaka et al., 1999). ...
... El factor Optimismo ha sido ampliamente estudiado aunque su estabilidad en el tiempo es discutida, encontrando algunos estudios una elevada correlación (Atienza, Stephens & Townsend, 2004), mientras que otros indican cambios en los niveles de optimismo ante las diferentes situaciones a las que el sujeto debe enfrentarse (Segerstrom, 2007;Sweeny, Carroll & Shepperd, 2006). Optimismo y pesimismo son definidos como expectativas o creencias generalizadas positivas y/o negativas que el sujeto tiene acerca de su futuro (Scheier & Carver, 1985. ...
This work studies the influence of Dispositional Optimism and the "Big Five" personality factors on older peoples' self-rated health and it examines optimists' and pessimists' analyses of their own health. The sample is made up of 498 older people (M = 63.3 years and SD = 8.55). The results reveal that optimists have a better perception of their health and lower levels of social dysfunction and depression. The Neuroticism factor affects to the Somatic Symptoms, Anxiety, Social Dysfunction, and Depression; and is a key factor in the relation established between Dispositional Optimism and the subscale of Depression. However, Optimism only directly affects the subscale Social Dysfunction.
... It is also reported to be stable even when disease-free patients receive bad news (Schou et al., 2005). However, the trans-situational stability may be questioned, as the increased stress associated with women's roles as wife and employee is reported to be linked to decreased optimism (Atienza et al., 2003). Only one study is found that reports comparisons of LOT scores among cancer patients in different stages across several studies (Miller et al., 1996). ...
... Because of the cross-sectional nature of the data, causal inferences regarding the role of dispositional optimism in the stressor-strain process are not justified. The study is unable to address whether dispositional optimism changes over time as a result of stress (see Atienza, Stephens, & Townsend, 2004); to this end, longitudinal research is clearly needed to elucidate the role that dispositional optimism plays over time with stress and mental health. Another limitation of the study is that all measures were assessed via a single method (self-report). ...
The study examined dispositional optimism s role in buffering the effect of warzone stress on mental health symptoms and mental health symptoms on work impairment. A total of 2,439 soldiers from an active-duty brigade combat team were surveyed following a 12-month deployment to Iraq. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, depression symptoms, combat exposure, deployment demands, and work impairment were measured. Soldiers higher in dispositional optimism showed weaker relationships between combat exposure and PTSD symptoms, and between deployment demands and PTSD and depression symptoms. Dispositional optimism also buffered mental health symptom effects on work impairment. Dispositional optimism may protect soldiers from warzone stress and mental health symptoms. Potential mechanisms explaining how dispositional optimism may serve as a protective factor are discussed.
... Single/divorced/widowed, less educated, rural, and fairly poor men appear to exhibit more hopelessness than do women (Haatainen, 2004). Gender differences in levels of hopelessness among immigrants differ from those in the dominant population in that hopelessness among female immigrants seems to be higher and related to an increase in levels of stress (Atienza, Stephens, & Townsend, 2004;Spitzer, Neufeld, Harrison, Hughes, & Stewart, 2003). This could be attributed to an escalation in domestic responsibilities among immigrant women as well as to family fragmentation, lack of social support, and rigid job schedules (Spitzer et al., 2003). ...
This article reports on the findings of a study conducted with a sample of 136 Mexican-heritage mothers residing in a large southwestern metropolitan area. From a risk-and-resiliency perspective, hopelessness was approached as a culturally specific response to family stress and other challenges encountered by Mexican immigrants. Although Mexican-heritage women and other Latinas have higher prevalence rates of psychiatric disorders than their male counterparts, they experience disparity in accessing mental health services. Multiple regression analysis was used to explore the relationships among hopelessness, depression, social support, and other variables. Culturally rooted resiliency and a sense of optimism connected to immigration appear to shelter Mexican-heritage mothers from hopelessness and depression. A very large households and nonworking status were found to elevate the risk of hopelessness. Because poverty and acculturation levels were not related to hopelessness or depression, further culturally specific research distinguishing hopelessness from depression is recommended. Given that hopelessness sometimes presents itself independently from depression, implications for practice include the need to refine mental health assessment tools to capitalize on the resiliency among immigrant mothers and avoid misdiagnosis.
... Optimism is a trait. As with most traits, test–retest correlations are relatively high, ranging from .58 to .79 over periods lasting from a few weeks to 3 years (Atienza, Stephens, & Townsend, 2004; Lucas, Diener, & Suh, 1996; Scheier & Carver, 1985; Scheier et al., 1994). Test–retest reliability has been found to be high even across longer time periods. ...
Optimism is an individual difference variable that reflects the extent to which people hold generalized favorable expectancies for their future. Higher levels of optimism have been related prospectively to better subjective well-being in times of adversity or difficulty (i.e., controlling for previous well-being). Consistent with such findings, optimism has been linked to higher levels of engagement coping and lower levels of avoidance, or disengagement, coping. There is evidence that optimism is associated with taking proactive steps to protect one's health, whereas pessimism is associated with health-damaging behaviors. Consistent with such findings, optimism is also related to indicators of better physical health. The energetic, task-focused approach that optimists take to goals also relates to benefits in the socioeconomic world. Some evidence suggests that optimism relates to more persistence in educational efforts and to higher later income. Optimists also appear to fare better than pessimists in relationships. Although there are instances in which optimism fails to convey an advantage, and instances in which it may convey a disadvantage, those instances are relatively rare. In sum, the behavioral patterns of optimists appear to provide models of living for others to learn from.
... Although optimism is generally considered a stable, dispositional characteristic, these data suggest that it may fluctuate as a function of stressful life events (i.e. it may have malleable statelike components in addition to more stable traitlike components). Consistent with this possibility is that in a study of women who occupied multiple roles, Atienza and colleagues [56] found that increases in the stress associated with being a wife and employee predicted decreased optimism over one year. Thus, it seems possible that mothers' negative life events could lead to lower levels of optimism, which could in turn be associated with greater fear appraisals during the child's transplantation and recovery. ...
Although mothers' fear appraisals about their child's future health and well-being affect their own psychological adjustment to their child's hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), little is known about antecedents of maternal fear appraisals. This longitudinal study investigated several potential antecedents of these fear appraisals: maternal optimism, recent negative life events, lifetime history of traumatic events, and medical characteristics of the child's disease and HSCT course. One hundred-forty mothers were interviewed during their child's hospitalization for HSCT and at 3-and 6-months post-HSCT. Structural equation modeling was used to test a model of hypothesized relations. Consistent with predictions, lower optimism and a greater number of negative life events were independently associated with greater maternal fear appraisals. Contrary to expectations, lifetime history of trauma was not associated with maternal fear appraisals. Mothers' fear appraisals during their child's hospitalization were, in turn, associated with their fear appraisals up to 6 months later. These data identify a subset of mothers who may be particularly in need of an intervention to increase optimistic coping strategies, improve coping with negative life events, and reduce fear appraisals to improve their adjustment following their child's HSCT.
... Indeed, although dispositional optimism is a relatively stable individual difference construct, stability coefficients for optimism do not approach unity (e.g., Scheier et al., 1994). This raises the possibility that life events may influence optimism (Atienza, Stephens, & Townsend, 2004;Segerstrom, in press) and that, as Peterson (2000) suggested, "stress and trauma of all sorts take their toll on optimism" (p. 51). ...
This study extends research on the adaptive aspects of dispositional optimism to romantic relationships. We hypothesized that optimism would be positively linked to cooperative problem solving in romantic relationships, given previous research indicating that optimists are likely to use approach coping strategies. Results indicated that optimism was linked to satisfying and happy romantic relationships, and a substantial portion of this association was mediated by reports of cooperative problem solving. Moreover, optimism predicted relative increases in relationship satisfaction over a 2-year interval. All told, these results suggest that optimism may serve as an enduring resource for romantic unions.
The study examines personal control as an antecedent of optimism, which is theorized to explain older adults’ consumption-related activities and life satisfaction. Implications of these findings for marketers of products and services targeted toward older consumers are also discussed. An online survey of 267 adults, 50 years of age and older, is used to test the model of antecedents and consequence of optimism, using structural equation modeling. Results suggest that personal control is an important antecedent of optimism, which may influence several consumption-related behaviors and the well-being of older consumers.
Background and objectives:
Although dispositional optimism and pessimism have been prospectively associated with health outcomes, little is known about how these associations manifest in everyday life. This study examined how short-term optimistic and pessimistic expectations were associated with psychological and physiological stress processes.
Methods:
A diverse sample of adults (N = 300) completed a 2-day/1-night ecological momentary assessment and ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) protocol at ∼45-minute intervals.
Results:
Moments that were more optimistic than typical for a person were followed by moments with lower likelihood of reporting a stressor, higher positive affect (PA), lower negative affect (NA), and less subjective stress (SS). Moments that were more pessimistic than typical were not associated with any affective stress outcome at the following moment. Neither optimism nor pessimism were associated with ABP, and did not moderate associations between reporting a stressor and outcomes.
Discussion:
These findings suggest that intraindividual fluctuations in optimistic and pessimistic expectations are associated with stressor appraisals.
Objective: Optimism is an important factor impacting health and human functioning. Originally conceptualized as a trait, increasing evidence indicates that optimism can change over time and could be an intervention target. Measures are needed that can capture changes in optimism.
Design: In this secondary analysis, we compared the performance of a newly developed state measure, the State Optimism Measure (SOM), to the widely used trait measure, the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R), in detecting changes over time during a disruptive life event: the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.
Main Outcome Measures: Participants (n = 81) were nondaily smokers participating in a smoking cessation intervention, who completed the SOM and LOT-R before and after the initial COVID-19 outbreak.
Results: Optimism declined from pre- to post-COVID-19 outbreak, as assessed by both scales (LOT-R: p=.0147,gav=0.23; SOM: p<.0001,gav=0.56). The change detected was greater when measured by the SOM (p<.0001). Changes in optimism were correlated with concurrent changes in perceived stress, positive affect, and negative affect.
Conclusion: Our results suggest that the SOM has a greater sensitivity to detect within-person changes in optimism than the LOT-R and highlight the SOM’s utility for longitudinal studies assessing changes in optimism.
Research suggests that the way individuals are oriented towards the future is deeply embedded in their psychology, shaping how they perceive and react to opportunities and threats, even at unconscious levels. We argue that exposures to opportunities and threats over the life course can shape future orientation at a deep level, and that word-valence effects to survey questions indicate optimistic and pessimistic “perceptual-response reflexes” that are manifestations of deeply inscribed unconscious dispositions. Using data collected over 25 years in the Americans’ Changing Lives (ACL) study we analyze variation in word-valence effects by age, birth cohort, gender, and race. The broad adult age-range of the sample and the length of follow-up permits the examination of birth cohorts ranging from the “First Children of the 20th Century” (born before 1917) to “Baby Boomers” (born 1947-1962). We find notable differences in age-graded trends across two overarching birth cohort groups: those who reached high school age before the Supreme Court’s landmark Brown vs Board of Education decision in 1954 (i.e., born before 1932) and after (i.e., born in 1932 and later). Age-related trends in optimistic perceptual response diverge notably for women versus men, and for Black versus White Americans. Trends in pessimistic perceptual response differ from trends in optimistic response. For example, in early adulthood Black Americans score higher on both optimistic and pessimistic response patterns than White Americans. Birth-cohort differences in both outcomes vary by gender and race. Those differences are interpreted in terms of changes in political, demographic, and sociocultural contexts.
Remaining optimistic in the face of adversity is critical during the entrepreneurial process. Entrepreneurship research has overwhelmingly focused on the consequences of optimism. Here, we shift this attention to the “whence” of optimism. Integrating micro- and macro-level resource theories, we build a situated entrepreneurial optimism framework to contend that resource combinations are associated with entrepreneurial optimism. To explore resource configurations, we use fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) and examine five resource components tapping into human, social, and financial capital. We find that entrepreneurial optimism does not rest on one resource component but on the combination of at least two. Human and social capital components form a part of most configurations consistently associated with entrepreneurial optimism. This study extends entrepreneurship research by shifting the theoretical and empirical focus to the antecedents of optimism and contributes to macro-level resource theories by linking resources to more proximal venture outcomes.
Stress is an important consideration for understanding why individuals take part in limited or no physical activity. The negative effects of stress on physical activity do not hold for everyone, so examinations of possible resilience resources that might protect individuals from the harmful effects of stress are required. Accordingly, we conducted a measurement‐burst study with 53 university students over a 6‐month period to examine the dynamics among stress, physical activity, sedentary behavior, and resilience resources. Participants completed three bursts of 6 days, with each burst separated by an 8‐week gap. Expectations regarding the moderating effects of resilience resources were unsupported. Daily reports of academic and general stress were positively associated with sedentary behavior and negatively associated with light and moderate intensity physical activity. Hair cortisol concentration significantly moderated the association between academic stress and sedentary behavior, such that in bursts where cortisol was lower the daily positive association between stress and sedentary behavior was weaker. The finding that academic and general stress are dynamically associated with lower levels of light and moderate intensity physical activity and higher levels of sedentary behavior is an important extension to previous research, which has relied mainly on cross‐sectional designs and self‐report methods. Future research might examine resilience resources that are specific to the outcomes of interest rather than rely on generic resources. This is the first longitudinal measurement‐burst study examining associations between stress, physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and resilience, utilizing objectively measured physical activity and biological and subjective indices of stress. Although the moderating effects of resilience resources were unsupported, stress was associated with lower levels of physical activity and higher levels of sedentary behavior.
The main aim of the chapter is to present the results of a research study exploring the correlates and predictors of perceived hope among Czech and Maltese populations. We examined the levels of perceived hope, optimism, life satisfaction, positive relations, loneliness, generativity, and spirituality, and investigated whether there are any significant differences related to gender, age, family status, education level, religious beliefs, and engagement in voluntary activities. The sample consisted of 177 Czech and 90 Maltese respondents aged between 18 and 79 years. In both samples, the most important significant predictor of perceived hope was dispositional optimism. In the Czech sample, higher perceived hope was also predicted by higher generativity and lower loneliness, while in the Maltese sample an important role was played by spirituality, which was found to be the second independent predictor of perceived hope. An analysis of the effect of demographic factors showed some culture-specific differences.
Optimism and pessimism – generalized expectancies that the future will be positive or negative – cause broad and diverse differences between people in subjective well-being and how they achieve it. People who are more optimistic cope with adversities by addressing rather than avoiding them and their feelings about them; they engage with and accomplish goals to a greater degree; and they are more likely to attend to and pre-emptively address threats to their well-being. They also have better physical health, which can both result from and contribute to well-being. Although optimism may have drawbacks, these seem to be limited in scope and do not outweigh the advantages of being optimistic.
Optimism is a trait that reflects the extent to which people hold generalized favorable versus unfavorable expectancies for their future. Higher optimism has been related prospectively (i.e., controlling for previous well-being) to higher subjective well-being in times of adversity. Optimism has also been linked to greater engagement coping and less avoidance coping. Optimism has been associated with taking proactive steps to protect one's health, whereas pessimism has been associated with health-damaging behaviors. Consistent with such evidence, optimism has also been linked to better physical health. The task-focused approach that optimists take to goals also confers benefits in the socioeconomic world. Optimism has been linked to more persistence in educational efforts and to higher income. Optimists also appear to fare better than pessimists in relationships. There are instances in which optimism fails to convey an advantage, and instances in which it may be disadvantageous, but those instances are quite rare.
Greater optimism is related to better mental and physical health. A number of studies have investigated interventions intended to increase optimism. The aim of this meta-analysis was to consolidate effect sizes found in randomized controlled intervention studies of optimism training and to identify factors that may influence the effect of interventions. Twenty-nine studies, with a total of 3319 participants, met criteria for inclusion in the analysis. A significant meta-analytic effect size, g = .41, indicated that, across studies, interventions increased optimism. Moderator analyses showed that studies had significantly higher effect sizes if they used the Best Possible Self intervention, provided the intervention in person, used an active control, used separate positive and negative expectancy measures rather than a version of the LOT-R, had a final assessment within one day of the end of the intervention, and used completer analyses rather than intention-to-treat analyses. The results indicate ...
Dispositional optimism is a personality trait that refers to the extent to which individuals expect positive outcomes for their future. Higher optimism has been associated with a better physical health and mental well-being. It is thought that these favorable outcomes result from the more effective coping styles used by optimists. These coping styles include goal-oriented strategies which enhance the perception of controllability of stressors and better social embedding and protect against feelings of loneliness. Optimists meet adversities using a proactive approach to deal with the source of stress, whether it concerns a health, psychological, or social problem. Dispositional optimism has been associated with a reduced risk for various physical disorders, including a lower risk for cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality, whereas evidence for a link with cancer is more ambiguous. The protective effect of optimism on physical health may be mediated through health-promoting behaviors, such as healthier dietary patterns and more physical activity. Biological processes such as low inflammation, low oxidative stress, and a resilient hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity may underlie the association. It is therefore undeniable that dispositional optimism plays a central role in health-related quality of life and subjective well-being. Intervention studies aiming to increase optimism are scarce and have shown that manipulation of one’s future expectancies may change dispositional optimism on the short term. Future well-designed trials should therefore explore whether the level of optimism can be improved through cognitive behavior therapy, exercise, lifestyle modification, social skills training, or biological interventions.
Most research considers both psychological and physical health with a disease perspective by focusing on poor psychological functioning or disease outcomes. However, identifying attributes that support adaptive functioning may inform approaches to achieving health beyond what we learn from studying risk factors that accelerate deterioration. Recent evidence suggests that positive psychological functioning contributes to attaining optimal physical health. We evaluate the current state of knowledge on the relationship between positive psychological functioning and physical health, defining health beyond solely the absence of disease. We further consider when positive psychological functioning begins to exert effects on health, whether it has direct effects on biological processes or serves primarily to buffer the effects of stress, and whether it is associated with health outcomes and biological processes beyond those that reflect the absence of deterioration and disease. We propose some key directions for future research including the assessment of positive psychological functioning, positive biological functioning, and optimal health, the value of multi-system measures, and the potential of "omics" to provide novel insights into biological mechanisms underlying associations between positive psychological functioning and physical health.
Drawing tests are diagnostic projection method which in a participant is asked to paint a person, a subject or a situation for evaluating cognitive, interpersonal, or psychological function. Purpose of this study was to compare the drawing –a- person test elements and self- concept between optimistic and pessimistic children. The sample size consist of 150 students ( 51girl and 89 boy) from third to fifth grade in zahedan city that were selected randomly through cluster sampling method to collect the data Children’s Attributional style , the Drawing –A-Person Test (DAP) and Children Self-Concept Scale were applied. The chi square test was used to analyze the data. There was significant deference between attributional style of optimistic / pessimistic children in the person dimensions, color and size. That is pessimistic boys obtained higher scores than optimistic boys in the scale of person dimension, medium drawing a person, and medium drawing head. The pessimistic girls revealed higher scores in comparison to optimistic girls in the scale of explicit coloring. Also, there were significant differences between girls and boys in drawing -a- person test elements. That is boys obtained higher scores than scale of dress, color, head, line quality, eye state (point form) oral mode (lavanced form). The girls obtained higher scores in comparison to boys in the scale of colors number, explicit coloring, eye state with long eyelash, liner mouth, and strength leg. There was a significant difference between self - concept of boy and girl students in drawing-a-person test elements. That is, boys showed higher scores than girls in the behavior of self- concept scale and drawing a person elements (coloring) eye state( point form) theory and physical appearance , drawing a person elements(non), anxiety and quality of line (embowed and zigzag) , attribute and arm size (medium), joyance, and satisfaction coloring (exploited), color dominate (blue , green, yellow) . girls showed higher scores than boys in the scale of self concept behavior , draw a person elements of head size (medium) , theory and physical appearance, drawing a person elements of graphic place(middle), hand state (open), attribute peripheral ingredient(non), joyance satisfaction , strength leg (stable), and state of study (long eyelash) .
RESUMEN: El optimismo se presenta como una variable importante a estudiar para comprender
las características psicológicas asociadas al máximo rendimiento. Algunos trabajos destacan
una relación positiva entre el optimismo, el rendimiento y la edad de los deportistas, aunque se
requieren más investigaciones al respecto. Teniendo en cuenta los aspectos anteriormente citados,
la presente investigación se propone: 1) analizar la posible relación entre el rasgo optimismo
y el rendimiento deportivo y, 2) estudiar las posibles diferencias en el rasgo optimismo en función
de la edad de los deportistas. La muestra fue constituida por 151 futbolistas varones de un
club deportivo de la Comunidad de Madrid, con edades entre 14 y 24 años. Se evaluaron las variables
edad, rendimiento deportivo medio y el rasgo optimismo. Los resultados indican una relación
positiva y moderada entre el optimismo y el rendimiento deportivo. Además, se obtiene una
tendencia no significativa en el rasgo optimismo en función de la categoría por edad, aumentando
el optimismo a medida que aumenta la edad de los deportistas. Se discuten los resultados
obtenidos.
Abstract: Optimism is an important variable to consider in the comprehension of the psychological
characteristics associated with peak performance. Some studies stand out a positive
relationship between optimism, performance and age of athletes, although is necessary more research on the subject. Taking these aspects into consideration, this research proposes: 1) analyze
the possible relationship between optimism and performance in sport and 2) explore possible
differences in the trait of optimism depending on the age of athletes. The sample consisted
of 151 male soccer players from a club of Madrid, aged between 14 and 24 years old. The variables
evaluated were age, mean sport performance and trait optimism. The results indicate a
moderate and positive relationship between optimism and athletic performance. There is also a
non significant trend in optimism variable depending on the category by age, increasing optimism
with increasing age of the athletes. Results are discussed.
The objective of this study was to identify perceptions of family caretakers about the process of physical rehabilitation of elderly people were discharged from hospital on condition of physical dependence. This is a qualitative study, conducted from July to August 2005 in which six family caretakers were interviewed in their own homes, a month after hospital discharge of the elderly. By means of transcription and thematic analysis five themes emerged, highlighting: popular concept of rehabilitation, the process of functional disability, the main resources used and the motivation of the elderly and the caretaker. We found that these family caretakers perceive the physical recovery in a combined way with the care, since their actions are held for the full recovery of the elderly.
In this article we review answers to 5 questions concerning the development of personality across the life course: How early in the life course can we identify characteristics unique to individuals that will show continuity over time? When in the life course is personality fully developed? What life course factors moderate continuity and change in personality? What are the mechanisms that promote continuity in personality? And finally, what are the mechanisms that promote change in personality? Based on the answers to these 5 questions we conclude (a) that there is modest continuity from childhood to adulthood, (b) that personality traits do not become fixed at a certain age in adulthood and retain the possibility of change even into old age, and (c) that with time and age people become more adept at interacting with their environment such that personality consistency increases with age and is more common than change in midlife and old age.
Examined women's occupancy of the social roles of paid worker, wife, and mother, and the quality of their experience in these 3 roles in relation to psychological well-being. Data were from a disproportionate (i.e., women from high-prestige occupations) random sample of 23 White women (aged 35–55 yrs). Well-being was measured by indices of self-esteem, depression, and pleasure; pleasure was assessed by a scale consisting of single-item measures of happiness, satisfaction, and optimism. Role quality was measured by scales developed for this study that assessed the balance between the positive and negative attributes women perceived in their roles. Hierarchical regression analyses controlling for age, education, and income indicated that role occupancy was unrelated to well-being with one exception: Occupying the role of paid worker significantly predicted self-esteem. In contrast, the 3 role-quality variables were significant predictors of the well-being indices, except that quality of experience in the role of mother did not predict pleasure. Findings suggest the importance of qualitative rather than quantitative aspects of role involvement and the need to examine different dimensions of well-being in relation to social roles. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
To determine the influence of increased ambient stress load on subsequent cardiovascular and natural killer (NK) cell reactivity
to acute stress, 30 men and women were exposed to a 5-min mental arithmetic (MA) stressor. Half the participants experienced
a bureaucratic hassle designed to increase ambient stress load prior to the MA task, and the other half experienced the MA
task without this pretreatment. Hassle group x gender effects suggested that hassled men had greater heart rate increases
to the MA task than did hassled women, and hassled men had greater NK reactivity to the MA task than did any other group.
The primary purpose of this paper is to review recent research examining the beneficial effects of optimism on psychological and physical well-being. The review focuses on research that is longitudinal or prospective in design. Potential mechanisms are also identified whereby the beneficial effects of optimism are produced, focusing in particular on how optimism may lead a person to cope more adaptively with stress. The paper closes with a brief consideration of the similarities and differences between our own theoretical approach and several related approaches that have been taken by others.
Weighted least-squares confirmatory factor analysis and exploratory factor-analytic procedures were used to assess the dimensionality
of three self-report instruments designed to measure optimism and pessimism: the Life Orientation Test (LOT), the Hopelessness
Scale (HS), and the Optimism and Pessimism Scale (OPS). The LOT was found to be bidimensional, the HS unidimensional, and
the OPS multidimensional. The HS was interpreted as measuring a unipolar pessimism dimension. Factor analyses performed on
an item subset from the OPS that fit the definition of optimism and pessimism as generalized outcome expectancies also supported
the two-dimensional model of optimism and pessimism. Differential correlations between separate optimism and pessimism indices
and a measure of psychological stress provided partial further support for a two-dimensional model of optimism and pessimism.
The purpose of this study were to examine the influence of personality on mental and physical health of spouse caregivers and to determine whether there were differences in such influences depending on disease context. The disease contexts compared were Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD; with no coexisting dementia)--both chronic, degenerative diseases of later life. It was predicted that personality would be related to mental and physical health, directly and indirectly, and that AD caregivers would have higher levels of perceived stress and worse mental and physical health outcomes. Participants in the study were 175 caregivers (88 AD; 87 PD) living at home with their ill spouses. The data provided an excellent fit to the hypothesized model of the relationships between personality, disease group, social support, perceived stress, and mental and physical health. Seventy-eight percent of the variance in mental health was accounted for and 35% of the variance in physical health was explained. Personality had significant direct and indirect effects on mental health and significant indirect effects on physical health. As predicted, AD caregivers had significantly worse mental health than PD caregivers; however, AD caregivers had better physical health than PD caregivers, controlling for other variables in the model. These results are discussed in relation to the existing caregiving and behavioral medicine literature. Future research should include different domains of personality--states and longer term self-regulatory processes in addition to traits--to advance models of caregiving processes further.
This article explores the implications that dispositional optimism holds for physical well-being. Research is reviewed that links optimism to a number of different positive health-relevant outcomes, ranging from the development of physical symptoms to recovery from coronary artery bypass surgery. Additional findings are described which suggest that these beneficial effects are partly due to differences between optimists and pessimists in the strategies that they use to cope with stress. A number of other potential mediators are also discussed, including some that are physiologic in nature. The article closes with a discussion of the relationships between our own theoretical account of the effects of optimism and several other conceptual approaches.
Coping refers to behavior that protects people from being psychologically harmed by problematic social experience, a behavior that importantly mediates the impact that societies have on their members. The protective function of coping behavior can be exercised in 3 ways: by eliminating or modifying conditions giving rise to problems; by perceptually controlling the meaning of experience in a manner that neutralizes its problematic character; and by keeping the emotional consequences of problems within manageable bounds. The efficacy of a number of concrete coping behaviors representing these 3 functions was evaluated. Results indicate that individuals' coping interventions are most effective when dealing with problems within the close interpersonal role areas of marriage and child-rearing and least effective when dealing with the more impersonal problems found in occupation. The effective coping modes are unequally distributed in society, with men, the educated, and the affluent making greater use of the efficacious mechanisms.
In a cohort of gay men responding to the threat of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), dispositional optimism was associated with less distress, less avoidant coping, positive attitudes as a coping strategy, and fewer AIDS-related concerns. Men who knew they were seropositive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) were significantly more optimistic about not developing AIDS than men who knew they were seronegative for HIV. This AIDS-specific optimism was related to higher perceived control over AIDS and to active coping among seropositive men only and to health behaviors in both serostatus groups. There was no relation of optimism to risk-related sexual behavior. It is concluded that optimism is psychologically adaptive without necessarily compromising health behavior. It is also concluded that it is useful to distinguish between event-based optimistic expectations and dispositional optimism.
This study explored prospectively the effects of dispositional and situational optimism on mood (N = 90) and immune changes (N = 50) among law students in their first semester of study. Optimism was associated with better mood, higher numbers of helper T cells, and higher natural killer cell cytotoxicity. Avoidance coping partially accounted for the relationship between optimism and mood. Among the immune parameters, mood partially accounted for the optimism-helper T cell relationship, and perceived stress partially accounted for the optimism-cytotoxicity relationship. Individual differences in expectancies, appraisals, and mood may be important in understanding psychological and immune responses to stress.
This longitudinal study investigates, over an 18-month period, the caregiving experience of a probability sample of 115 daughters who provided care to an aging parent. The levels of depressive symptoms: manifested by these daughters were relatively low, with only 23.5% scoring in the clinical range during the study. Nevertheless. there was substantive change in depressive symptoms among the daughters during the 18 months, Daughters with higher levels of mastery were more likely to use problem-focused coping strategies, which led to reductions in depression, whereas daughters with lower levels of mastery were more likely to use emotion-focused coping, which led to increased levels of depression. Mastery was higher when the caregiving role was shared with a sibling; it was lower if the daughter had other caregiving responsibilities and if the parent care recipient had elevated levels of behavior problems.
The effect of dispositional optimism on recovery from coronary artery bypass surgery was examined in a group of 51 middle-aged men. Patients provided information at three points in time--(a) on the day before surgery, (b) 6-8 days postoperatively, and (c) 6 months postoperatively. Information was obtained relating to the patient's rate of physical recovery, mood, and postsurgical quality of life. Information was also gathered regarding the manner in which the patients attempted to cope with the stress of the surgery and its aftermath. As expected, dispositional optimism proved to be an important predictor of coping efforts and of surgical outcomes. More specifically, dispositional optimism (as assessed prior to surgery) correlated positively with manifestations of problem-focused coping and negatively with the use of denial. Dispositional optimism was also associated with a faster rate of physical recovery during the period of hospitalization and with a faster rate of return to normal life activities subsequent to discharge. Finally, there was a strong positive association between level of optimism and postsurgical quality of life at 6 months.
Contrary to unidimensional conceptions of optimism and pessimism, factor analysis of 2 widely used instruments revealed that optimism and pessimism are empirically differentiable, but related, constructs. Moreover, consistent with expectations, optimism and pessimism were differentially linked with fundamental dimensions of mood and personality. Pessimism was principally associated with neuroticism and negative affect. Optimism was primarily associated with extraversion and positive affect. Findings are discussed with reference to current conceptual and measurement models of optimism and pessimism and their relations to broad dimensions of mood and personality.
Significantly higher mean scores on the negatively versus positively worded subscales are reported for a Dutch-adapted version of the Life Orientation Test, a measure of dispositional optimism. This extends previous findings on measures of negative affect (i.e., anxiety and depression) to a similarly balanced measure of positive affect. Factor analysis identified two factors (presence of optimism and absence of pessimism) which suggested the multidimensionality of the scale based on differences in item content along the independent dimensions of positive and negative affect.
Research on dispositional optimism and explanatory style has burgeoned in recent years. The present study assessed the psychometric properties of the Life Orientation Test and Attributional Style Questionnaire, two self-report scales commonly used to measure these two constructs in social-personality research. Data reported include means, standard deviations, internal reliabilities, and intercorrelations for a sample of 436 (342 women and 94 men) college students. Scores on the measures were moderately correlated (r = .41), suggesting some conceptual overlap. No gender differences were evidenced on either scale.
Based upon assumptions that the social self is comprised of major role-identities and that role-identities reduce psychological distress, this paper examines the mental health advantage of married and unmarried men relative to comparable women as a function of multiple-role occupancy. Panel data from surveys of 1,106 adult heads of household in Chicago and 720 adults in New Haven are utilized. Possession of multiple role-identities (up to 6 in Chicago, 8 in New Haven) does significantly reduce distress in both samples. But identity summation does not consistently reduce gender or gender by marital status differences in distress. Further exploration revealed that men and women appear to experience equivalent levels of distress when they hold the same numbers and types of roles. When sex differences do occur, they appear to be a function of employment rather than of marriage, contrary to popular belief. Although structural inequalities in role occupancy appear to produce status differences in distress, future research will require deliberately stratified samples to adequately test this hypothesis.
At diagnosis, 59 breast cancer patients reported on their overall optimism about life; 1 day presurgery, 10 days postsurgery, and at 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-ups, they reported their recent coping responses and distress levels. Optimism related inversely to distress at each point, even controlling for prior distress. Acceptance, positive reframing, and use of religion were the most common coping reactions; denial and behavioral disengagement were the least common reactions. Acceptance and the use of humor prospectively predicted lower distress; denial and disengagement predicted more distress. Path analyses suggested that several coping reactions played mediating roles in the effect of optimism on distress
and Creative ModelingModeling is not simply a process of response mimicry as commonly believed. Modeledjudgments and actions may differ in specific content but embody the same rule. For example, amodel may deal with moral dilemmas that differ widely in the nature of the activity but apply thesame moral standard to them. Modeled activities thus convey rules for generative and innovativebehavior. This higher level learning is achieved through abstract modeling. Once observersextract the...
This study disputed the unidimensionality of the Life Orientation Test (LOT). The eight-item LOT was administered to undergraduates in its original mixed form and in consistent optimism and consistent pessimism forms. Within the original form, two factors of optimism and pessimism were identified. However, when items had the same connotations, only one factor emerged. Researchers should acknowledge the two-factor structure of the LOT or reconstruct the items to maintain the unidimensional interpretation of the test.
There is strong consensus that caring for an elderly individual with disability is burdensome and stressful to many family members and contributes to psychiatric morbidity. Researchers have also suggested that the combination of loss, prolonged distress, the physical demands of caregiving, and biological vulnerabilities of older caregivers may compromise their physiological functioning and increase their risk for physical health problems, leading to increased mortality.
To examine the relationship between caregiving demands among older spousal caregivers and 4-year all-cause mortality, controlling for sociodemographic factors, prevalent clinical disease, and subclinical disease at baseline.
Prospective population-based cohort study, from 1993 through 1998 with an average of 4.5 years of follow-up.
Four US communities.
A total of 392 caregivers and 427 noncaregivers aged 66 to 96 years who were living with their spouses.
Four-year mortality, based on level of caregiving: (1) spouse not disabled; (2) spouse disabled and not helping; (3) spouse disabled and helping with no strain reported; or(4) spouse disabled and helping with mental or emotional strain reported.
After 4 years of follow-up, 103 participants (12.6%) died. After adjusting for sociodemographic factors, prevalent disease, and subclinical cardiovascular disease, participants who were providing care and experiencing caregiver strain had mortality risks that were 63% higher than noncaregiving controls (relative risk [RR], 1.63; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.00-2.65). Participants who were providing care but not experiencing strain (RR, 1.08; 95 % CI, 0.61-1.90) and those with a disabled spouse who were not providing care (RR, 1.37; 95% CI, 0.73-2.58) did not have elevated adjusted mortality rates relative to the noncaregiving controls.
Our study suggests that being a caregiver who is experiencing mental or emotional strain is an independent risk factor for mortality among elderly spousal caregivers. Caregivers who report strain associated with caregiving are more likely to die than noncaregiving controls.
Psychologists and nonpsychologists alike assume that people have distinct, enduring personalities. Ample evidence exists that individuals do differ reliably in what they do and think and feel in any given situation (e.g., Mischel, Shoda, & Ayduk, 2008). But, historically, it has remained surprisingly difficult to demonstrate the
consistency of such individual differences from one situation to another. Findings to date show that neither the research nor the intuition was wrong about the nature of individual differences in social behavior, although each had given an incomplete picture. It turned out that hidden in the seemingly random variation of individuals' behavior across situations is a pattern that is stable and distinctive for every individual (e.g., Shoda & LeeTiernan, 2002). The behavior itself varies, but there is stability in how each individual's behavior varies from one situation to another. These stable and distinctive
if ... then ... situation-behavior patterns form
behavioral signatures of personality (Shoda, Mischel, & Wright, 1994) and suggest the existence of a higher-order consistency on which the intuitive belief in personality may be based (Mischel & Shoda, 1995). To understand these stable intraindividual patterns of variability requires a theory and research paradigm that goes beyond the traditional investigation of personality and social situations. The findings yield both new answers and new questions about the nature of personality and the interactions of persons and situations. Happily, passionate debates in the search for the nature of personality are being replaced by findings and reconceptualizations that promise to resolve paradoxes and to overcome problems that have frustrated and divided the study of personality almost since its inception. This chapter focuses on the key implications of these developments in recent decades for building a unifying, cumulative personality theory and science, based on the findings from a century of theory-making and research in psychology and related fields. The question is: In light of advances in our science, is it possible to integrate, within a unitary framework, the dispositional (trait) and processing (social-cognitive-affective dynamic) approaches that have so long been split virtually into two separate fields (e.g., Mischel & Shoda, 1994, 1998)? (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
the basic view of an interactional perspective for individual functioning can be summarized in three propositions that should be considered simultaneously: (1) an individual develops and functions as a total, integrated organism, (2) an individual develops and functions in a dynamic, continuous, and reciprocal process of interaction wih his or her environment, and (3) the characteristic way in which an individual develops and functions, in interaction with the environment, depends on and influences the continuous reciprocal process of interaction among subsystems of mental and biological factors
the point of departure for an interactional perspective of individual functioning is that the life course of each individual takes place in a dynamic, reciprocal interaction process in which both the person and the environment change across time in a way that is characterized by order and regularity
the need to integrate perspectives and approaches in psychology / the interactional perspective / person-environment interaction / the person in the interaction process / the environment: the extraindividual side of the open system / individuality and continuity in personality development: implications for empirical research (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Contrary to unidimensional conceptions of optimism and pessimism, factor analysis of 2 widely used instruments revealed that optimism and pessimism are empirically differentiable, but related, constructs. Moreover, consistent with expectations, optimism and pessimism were differentially linked with fundamental dimensions of mood and personality. Pessimism was principally associated with neuroticism and negative affect. Optimism was primarily associated with extraversion an positive affect. Findings are discussed with reference to current conceptual and measurement models of optimism and pessimism and their relations to broad dimensions of mood and personality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
neuroendocrine responsivity / cardiovascular parameters / psychophysiologic reactivity / hormonal influences (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Cancer patients (
N = 238) receiving palliative radiation treatment were followed for 8 months; 70 patients had died by the 8-month follow-up. Controlling for site of cancer and level of symptomatology at baseline, the authors studied the independent effects on mortality of pessimism, optimism, and depression. The findings show that the endorsement of a pessimistic life orientation is an important risk factor for mortality, but only among younger patients (ages 30–59). Attempts to replicate this finding with conceptually related constructs such as depression or optimism did not yield significant associations for either younger or older patients, suggesting that negative expectations about the future may contribute to mortality in unique ways. The authors conclude that attempts to link psychosocial factors to mortality should focus on specific psychological constructs instead of diffuse, global measures that cover many psychological phenomena and that the role of psychological processes in mortality may vary dramatically depending on age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Previous research has shown that dispositional optimism (M. E Scheier & C. S. Carver, 1985) is linked to both coping and adjustment but has failed to consider the potential influence of appraisals in the stress and coping process (R. S. Lazarus & S. Folkman, 1984). The present study examined the influence of optimism and appraisals on coping and psychological and physical adjustment in 726 college students. Results from correlational analyses indicated that stress-related appraisals were associated with optimism, coping, and adjustment. Comparative analyses further indicated that optimists (
n = 109) and pessimists (
n = 110) differed significantly in secondary (but not primary) appraisal, coping, and adjustment. In addition, optimism was found to add significant incremental validity in predicting adjustment, beyond what was accounted for by appraisals and coping. The implications of these findings for understanding the influence of dispositional optimism are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Reviews evidence for support that an increased blood pressure (BP) reactivity (REA) to noxious stimuli may cause sustained hypertension (the REA hypothesis). An examination of key aspects of this hypothesis finds little evidence to support it. Discussion focuses on whether (1) stable intra-individual differences in REA exist, (2) borderline hypertension is characterized by hyperactvitiy, (3) factors other than basal BP determine individual differences in REA, and (4) REA measured in the lab predicts BP changes in daily life. Moreover, a look at research on cardiovascular activity and prognosis does not generally support the hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This editorial offers and provides preliminary support for the hypothesis that sex differences exist in physiological responses to acute behavioral stress, which may aid in understanding the enormous sex differences in risk for coronary heart disease. Epidemiological data regarding the differential sex experience of coronary heart disease morbidity and mortality are discussed, followed by a meta-analytic review of available psychophysiological data on sex differences in stress-induced cardiovascular and neuroendocrine responses. The implications of the meta-analysis for conceptual and methodological issues in psychophysiological research are highlighted.
The present study examined dispositional optimism as a moderator of the influence of perceived stress on psychological outcome. Results of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that dispositional optimism significantly moderated the relation between stress and psychological well-being. Some implications of the present findings for theory and research are discussed.
This prospective correlational study looked at the relationship between optimism, perception of stress, coping, and adaptation in women over the age of 60. One hundred and nine women took part in two interviews, separated by a minimum interval of 3 months. Although optimism was found to be correlated with most of the dependent variables (DVs), hierarchical regression analyses revealed that it lost its predictive power when the effects of the covariates, particularly Time 1 measures of the DVs and neuroticism, were statistically removed. The most important predictors of coping, distress, and life satisfaction were initial measures of these variables, followed by neuroticism. The discussion of the findings focuses on the need to clarify the construct of optimism. It supports the idea that optimism may be better conceptualized as a two-dimensional construct (optimism/pessimism), subsumable under two of the ‘Big Five’ personality factors, namely Extraversion and Neuroticism, respectively.
Research studies focusing on the psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) with psychiatric and nonpsychiatric samples were reviewed for the years 1961 through June, 1986. A meta-analysis of the BDI's internal consistency estimates yielded a mean coefficient alpha of 0.86 for psychiatric patients and 0.81 for nonpsychiatric subjects. The concurrent validitus of the BDI with respect to clinical ratings and the Hamilton Psychiatric Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) were also high. The mean correlations of the BDI samples with clinical ratings and the HRSD were 0. 72 and 0.73, respectively, for psychiatric patients. With nonpsychiatric subjects, the mean correlations of the BDI with clinical ratings and the HRSD were 0.60 and 0.74, respectively. Recent evidence indicates that the BDI discriminates subtypes of depression and differentiates depression from anxiety.
Although personal resources of caregivers, such as coping skills and social support, have been shown to be important in understanding caregiver stress and health outcomes, personality traits have not previously been considered. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between the personality traits of neuroticism and dispositional optimism and mental and physical health outcomes. It was predicted that personality would have direct effects, and indirect effects through perceived stress, on health outcomes. Participants were spouse caregivers of patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Results showed that neuroticism and optimism were significantly related to mental and physical health. Furthermore, neuroticism had significant direct effects on all of the health outcomes, and substantial indirect effects, through perceived stress, on mental health outcomes. Optimism showed stronger indirect than direct effects on all health outcomes. These