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Related Experiment Videos

Anxiety and unrealistic optimism.

C Dewberry1, M Ing, S James

  • 1Department of Psychology, Roehampton Institute, London, England.

The Journal of Social Psychology
|April 1, 1990
PubMed
Summary

People are often unrealistically optimistic, but anxiety can shift this towards pessimism. This study found that higher anxiety about negative events correlated with lower unrealistic optimism in female students. Anxiety may influence optimism and pessimism levels.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive psychology
  • Emotional regulation
  • Social psychology

Background:

  • Unrealistic optimism is common, but pessimism can occur under certain conditions.
  • Optimism and pessimism are typically explained by cognitive factors.
  • The relationship between optimism/pessimism and anxiety, a complex emotional and cognitive variable, is less understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between unrealistic optimism/pessimism and anxiety.
  • To explore how anxiety influences optimistic or pessimistic outlooks towards negative events.

Main Methods:

  • The study examined female students in England.
  • Participants' anxiety levels regarding specific negative events were measured.
  • The degree of unrealistic optimism or pessimism about these events was assessed.

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Main Results:

  • An inverse correlation was observed between anxiety levels and unrealistic optimism.
  • Higher reported anxiety about negative events was associated with lower levels of unrealistic optimism.

Conclusions:

  • Anxiety experienced towards a negative event can influence the level of unrealistic optimism or pessimism regarding that event.
  • Emotional factors, like anxiety, may play a significant role in shaping optimistic and pessimistic biases.