Optimistic Outlook On Life Essay

The term derives from the Latin optimum, meaning "best".Being optimistic, in the typical sense of the word, is defined as expecting the best possible outcome from any given situation.

The term derives from the Latin optimum, meaning "best".

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An optimistic person attributes internal, stable, and global explanations to good things.

Pessimistic explanations attribute these traits of stability, globality, and internality to negative events, such as difficulty in relationships.

One study conducted by Aspinwall and Taylor (1990) assessed incoming freshmen on a range of personality factors such as optimism, self-esteem, locus of self-control, etc.

It was found that freshmen who scored high on optimism before entering college were reported to have lower levels of psychological distress than their more pessimistic peers, while controlling for the other personality factors.

Behaviourally, these two scores correlate around r = 0.5.

Optimistic scores on this scale predict better outcomes in relationships, Genetic modelling confirms this independence, showing that pessimism and optimism are inherited as independent traits, with the typical correlation between them emerging as a result of a general well-being factor and family environment influences.Variation in optimism and pessimism is somewhat heritable Researchers operationalize the term differently depending on their research.As with any trait characteristic, there are several ways to evaluate optimism, such as the Life Orientation Test (LOT).Models of Optimistic and Pessimistic attributions show that attributions themselves are a cognitive style – individuals who tend to focus on the global explanations do so for all types of events, and the styles correlate among each other.In addition to this, individuals vary in how optimistic their attributions are for good events, and on how pessimistic their attributions are for bad events, but these two traits of optimism and pessimism are un-correlated.Optimism is a mental attitude reflecting a belief or hope that the outcome of some specific endeavor, or outcomes in general, will be positive, favorable, and desirable.A common idiom used to illustrate optimism versus pessimism is a glass filled with water to the halfway point: an optimist is said to see the glass as half full, while a pessimist sees the glass as half empty.Optimists achieved faster results in "behavioral milestones" such as sitting in bed, walking around, etc.They also were rated by staff as having a more favorable physical recovery.The Revised Life Orientation Test (LOT-R: Scheier, Carver, & Bridges, 1994) consists of six items, each scored on a 5-point scale from "Strongly disagree" to "Strongly agree" and four filler items.Half of the coded items are phrased in an optimistic way while the other half in a pessimistic way.