Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Unrealistic optimism: a behavioural sciences classroom demonstration project

H M McGee1, J Cairns

  • 1Department of Psychology, Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland.

Medical Education
|November 1, 1994
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Australia's temperate highland peat swamps face a death by a thousand longwall cuts.

Journal of environmental management·2025
Same author

Environmental water requirements and climate sensitivity of Australia's upland swamps.

The Science of the total environment·2025
Same author

Attendance at a one-off screening clinic for head and neck cancer during Cancer Awareness Week.

The British journal of oral & maxillofacial surgery·2020
Same author

Cerebellar contribution to higher and lower order rule learning and cognitive flexibility in mice.

Neuroscience·2016
Same author

Computational discovery of transcription factors associated with drug response.

The pharmacogenomics journal·2015
Same author

CHILDSPLA: a collaboration between children and researchers to design and animate health states.

Child: care, health and development·2015
Same journal

Channelling Socrates to re-imagine asynchronous online learning.

Medical education·2026
Same journal

Moving beyond tokenism: A structured and intentional approach to embedding health advocacy in medical education.

Medical education·2026
Same journal

When I say … 'in situ simulation'.

Medical education·2026
Same journal

Examiner training and calibration for simulated clinical examinations: A scoping review.

Medical education·2026
Same journal

When systems set the limits of supervision.

Medical education·2026
Same journal

From psychometrics to partnerships: Broadening what counts as validity evidence.

Medical education·2026
See all related articles

Medical students exhibit unrealistic optimism, underestimating their personal health risks. This cognitive bias, similar to patients

Area of Science:

  • Behavioral Science
  • Health Psychology
  • Medical Education

Background:

  • Unrealistic optimism can lead to poor health choices and delayed medical treatment.
  • Understanding cognitive biases like unrealistic optimism is crucial for medical training.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To teach medical students about unrealistic optimism using a self-assessment exercise.
  • To illustrate how students, like patients, exhibit cognitive distortions regarding health risks.

Main Methods:

  • 257 medical students from two classes completed questionnaires.
  • Students rated their personal risk for 17 health problems relative to their peers.

Main Results:

  • Varying levels of unrealistic optimism were observed across all 17 health conditions.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Significant gender differences in risk perception were noted for three conditions.

    • Conclusions:

    • Self-documentation of health risk beliefs effectively illustrates unrealistic optimism for students.
    • This educational approach highlights students' own cognitive processes and biases.