Optimism as a Psychological Resource Capacity

              IIM ROHTAK

   HBO Assignment

Instructor: Dr. Malay Biswas[pic 1]

Optimism as a Psychological Resource capacity

                                                                                                                                            Submitted by:

                                                                                                                                            Ashish Garg

        PGP07067(Sec-B)

Optimism as a Psychological Resource Capacity

Optimism is a tendency to look on the more beneficial side of events and to expect the most beneficial outcome. According to Langer and Roth (1975) and Miller and Ross (1975) individuals think  the success that they have achieved is due to their own personal abilities and they account the success to the optimism although success mainly is due to random events.  Individuals are more optimistic if and when they believe that they control positive outcomes. They are even more optimistic when they think they are highly committed to the outcomes (Weinstein, 1980).

Psychological beliefs such as optimism are known to be protective of mental health. We will discuss the implications of optimism in individual life as well as in corporate life.

Evaluation of existing literature:

Research in optimism is a flourishing field. There have been a lot studies on optimism in the last seven years than in the previous twenty five.

Psychologists classify the population as predominantly optimistic by their measurements. Segerstrom (2006) claims some 80% of people are classified as optimistic, and Seligman (1990) claims 60% of people are somewhat optimistic.  Optimism has been highlighted as being an important evolutionary part of survival. In his book Optimism: The Biology of Hope, Tiger (1979) argued that it is one of our most defining and adaptive characteristics.

Research has shown that optimism is connected with many positive life outcomes including increased life expectancy, general health, better mental health, increased success in sports and work, enhanced recovery rates from heart operations and better robust strategies when faced with adversity.

A number of studies have been conducted on optimism and psychological well-being. A study conducted by Aspinwall and Taylor (1990) evaluated freshmen on a range of personality factors such as self-esteem, optimism, locus of self-control, etc. It was found that freshmen who scored high on optimism before entering college were cited to have lower levels of psychological distress than their more pessimistic counterparts, while controlling for the other personality factors. Over time, the more optimistic students were less lonely, less stressed and less depressed than their pessimistic peers. Thus, this study suggests a direct correlation between optimism and psychological well-being.