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Related Concept Videos

Unrealistic Optimism Bias01:30

Unrealistic Optimism Bias

Unrealistic optimism bias is the tendency to overestimate the likelihood of positive outcomes. This cognitive bias makes individuals believe they are less likely to experience failures, setbacks, or risks and more likely to succeed than others. For example, people may assume they are less prone to health issues, accidents, or financial struggles than their peers, even when they share similar risk factors.One key component of this bias is the above-average effect, where individuals perceive...
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Hindsight bias leads you to believe that the event you just experienced was predictable, even though it really wasn’t. In other words, you knew all along that things would turn out the way they did. Can you relate this to the phrase "Hindsight is 20/20" now?
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According to some social psychologists, people tend to overemphasize internal factors as explanations—or attributions—for the behavior of other people. They tend to assume that the behavior of another person is a trait of that person, and to underestimate the power of the situation on the behavior of others. They tend to fail to recognize when the behavior of another is due to situational variables, and thus to the person’s state. This erroneous assumption is called the fundamental attribution...
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Cognitive bias results from limitations in thinking and information processing, leading to systematic errors in judgment. Conversely, motivational bias stems from personal desires or emotions, causing distortions in perception to align with self-interest. Motivational bias influences how individuals perceive and attribute causes to events, often shaped by personal needs, goals, and self-esteem preservation. This bias can distort judgment, leading to inaccurate assessments of success, failure,...
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Assessment of Mouse Judgment Bias through an Olfactory Digging Task
12:10

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Published on: March 4, 2022

Why are Optimists Optimistic?

Stephanie J Sohl1, Anne Moyer, Konstantin Lukin

  • 1Stony Brook University.

Individual Differences Research : IDR
|December 15, 2012
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

People explain their dispositional optimism through various reasoning types, including faith, fate, personal ability, and intuition. Understanding these explanations is key to fostering a more optimistic outlook.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Social Psychology

Background:

  • Dispositional optimism is a key psychological construct.
  • Understanding the cognitive processes underlying optimism is crucial for psychological well-being.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the reasoning individuals use when responding to measures of dispositional optimism.
  • To identify distinct categories of explanations for optimistic beliefs.
  • To examine the relationship between optimism reasoning and coping styles.

Main Methods:

  • Participants (N=113) completed the Life Orientation Test (LOT) and the COPE inventory.
  • Participants provided qualitative explanations for their LOT responses.
  • Explanations were categorized into eight distinct reasoning types.

Main Results:

  • Eight reasoning types emerged: faith, fate/just world, personal fortune, self-ability, idioms, belief in optimism's utility, matter-of-fact statements, and feelings/intuition.
  • Explanations for positive items often cited external forces, while negative items were explained by internal forces.
  • Specific reasoning types correlated with distinct coping styles.

Conclusions:

  • Dispositional optimism is explained through diverse cognitive and emotional processes.
  • The source of explanations (internal vs. external) differs based on item valence.
  • Identifying and understanding these reasoning patterns can inform interventions to cultivate optimism.