Optimism and Pessimism

Optimism and Pessimism as Dispositional Traits

Michael F. Scheier and Charles S. Carver view optimism and pessimism as personality traits and have derived a self-regulatory model based on expectancy-value theory to describe how these traits relate to human experiences. The expectancy-value approach assumes that behavior is goal directed. The term expectancy refers to the probability a person attaches to the likelihood of attaining a given goal, and value refers to the value the person places on a particular goal.

According to the self-regulatory model, goals give meaning to people's lives, but goals are subject to change, based on various forms of feedback. Individuals who experience adversity while pursuing a particular goal reassess the situation and the likelihood of success. This reassessment could lead to the identification of additional resources or alternative approaches to attaining the goal, or to abandoning the goal entirely. Optimists, who are more likely than pessimists to expect that they will be successful in achieving their goals, tend to persist in pursuit of their goals, despite adversity. For example, an optimistic college student might deal with a poor grade on the first exam in Introductory Biology by meeting with the instructor and revising his or her study techniques in order to better prepare for subsequent exams. In contrast, a pessimistic individual might deal with the same situation by “giving up,” avoiding the situation (e.g., no longer attending class), and/or dropping out of college.

Abandoning a goal that is unattainable can be adaptive when doing so leads to adoption of a more suitable alternative. For instance, a college student who continues to struggle with biology courses in pursuit of the goal of becoming a physician, might, upon assessment of the situation, decide upon a more suitable career path.

Optimists tend to remain more confident in the face of adversity than pessimists, and are more persistent in pursuing their goals. Optimists are more likely than pessimists to take direct action when dealing with problems, tend to be more planful when dealing with adversity, and take a more focused approach in their efforts to cope with problems. Furthermore, optimists tend to accept the reality of adverse situations more readily than pessimists. Optimists appear to have a greater ability to make the best of a bad situation, and [Page 708]they appear to be better able to grow or otherwise benefit from negative life experiences.

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