Unrealistic optimism: east and west?
Following Weinstein’s pioneering work (1980) many studies established that people have an optimistic bias concerning future life events. At first, the bulk of research was conducted using populations in North America and Northern Europe, the optimistic bias was thought of as universal, and little at...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2013-02-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00006/full |
| _version_ | 1818952862086987776 |
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| author | Mary Sissons Joshi Wakefield eCarter |
| author_facet | Mary Sissons Joshi Wakefield eCarter |
| author_sort | Mary Sissons Joshi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Following Weinstein’s pioneering work (1980) many studies established that people have an optimistic bias concerning future life events. At first, the bulk of research was conducted using populations in North America and Northern Europe, the optimistic bias was thought of as universal, and little attention was paid to cultural context. However, construing unrealistic optimism as a form of self-enhancement, some researchers noted that it was far less common in East Asian cultures. The current study extends enquiry to a different non-Western culture. Two hundred and eighty seven middle aged and middle-income participants (200 in India, 87 in England) rated 11 positive and 11 negative events in terms of the chances of each event occurring in their own life, and the chances of each event occurring in the lives of people like them. Comparative optimism was shown for bad events, with Indian participants showing higher levels of optimism than English participants. The position regarding comparative optimism for good events was more complex. In India those of higher socioeconomic status were optimistic, while those of lower socioeconomic status were on average pessimistic. Overall, English participants showed neither optimism nor pessimism for good events. The results, whose clinical relevance is discussed, suggest that the expression of unrealistic optimism is moulded by an interplay of culture and socioeconomic circumstance. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T09:57:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ef6fdfa2dbf842919a22e5b79c47de32 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T09:57:07Z |
| publishDate | 2013-02-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-ef6fdfa2dbf842919a22e5b79c47de322022-12-21T19:44:26ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782013-02-01410.3389/fpsyg.2013.0000635530Unrealistic optimism: east and west?Mary Sissons Joshi0Wakefield eCarter1Oxford Brookes UniversityOxford Brookes UniversityFollowing Weinstein’s pioneering work (1980) many studies established that people have an optimistic bias concerning future life events. At first, the bulk of research was conducted using populations in North America and Northern Europe, the optimistic bias was thought of as universal, and little attention was paid to cultural context. However, construing unrealistic optimism as a form of self-enhancement, some researchers noted that it was far less common in East Asian cultures. The current study extends enquiry to a different non-Western culture. Two hundred and eighty seven middle aged and middle-income participants (200 in India, 87 in England) rated 11 positive and 11 negative events in terms of the chances of each event occurring in their own life, and the chances of each event occurring in the lives of people like them. Comparative optimism was shown for bad events, with Indian participants showing higher levels of optimism than English participants. The position regarding comparative optimism for good events was more complex. In India those of higher socioeconomic status were optimistic, while those of lower socioeconomic status were on average pessimistic. Overall, English participants showed neither optimism nor pessimism for good events. The results, whose clinical relevance is discussed, suggest that the expression of unrealistic optimism is moulded by an interplay of culture and socioeconomic circumstance.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00006/fullEnglandIndiacultureunrealistic optimismself-enhancement |
| spellingShingle | Mary Sissons Joshi Wakefield eCarter Unrealistic optimism: east and west? Frontiers in Psychology England India culture unrealistic optimism self-enhancement |
| title | Unrealistic optimism: east and west? |
| title_full | Unrealistic optimism: east and west? |
| title_fullStr | Unrealistic optimism: east and west? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Unrealistic optimism: east and west? |
| title_short | Unrealistic optimism: east and west? |
| title_sort | unrealistic optimism east and west |
| topic | England India culture unrealistic optimism self-enhancement |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00006/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT marysissonsjoshi unrealisticoptimismeastandwest AT wakefieldecarter unrealisticoptimismeastandwest |