Optimism, Effects on Relationships

What is Optimism?

Optimism is defined as a tendency to expect favorable outcomes. Research has demonstrated that there are individual differences in global optimism—that is, some individuals are more inclined than are others to expect good things across a variety of life domains. A global, dispo-sitional tendency to be optimistic will typically manifest itself in a variety of more specific beliefs tied to particular times, situations, or life domains, and beyond any dispositional tendency, optimistic or pessimistic beliefs may be activated or diminished by short-term factors (for example, people in happy or angry moods are more optimistic than are people in fearful moods). Optimism and pessimism are generally conceptualized as opposite sides of a continuum. Thus, when this entry refers to optimists or pessimists, that is used as [Page 1182]shorthand for relative differences along such a continuum, not for qualitatively different types of people.

Research on dispositional, global optimism helps paint a picture of the personality traits and outcomes typically associated with being an optimist. This research has shown that optimists tend to have somewhat higher levels of extraversion and self-esteem, and lower levels of neuroticism, stress, anxiety, and hopelessness. Optimism is associated with a number of favorable outcomes in various domains of physical health and psychological functioning. For example, optimism assessed before a stressful life transition has been shown to predict fewer physical symptoms in patients and better immune system functioning during the transition. Optimism is also correlated with lower depression, fewer mood disturbances, and fewer negative interpersonal interactions. Optimism has been shown to predict less negative affect, depression, and stress during major life transitions.

A subset of optimism research has investigated outcomes in interpersonal relationships. Research has shown that individuals with optimistic outlooks are better liked by others and are socially rejected less often, have fewer negative social interactions, have longer-lasting friendships, and experience lesser social alienation and anxiety. In romantic relationships, both optimists and their partners enjoy greater relationship satisfaction, and optimists' relationships are at lower risk of breaking up.

How Optimism Influences Outcomes

Charles Carver and Michael Scheier, who have theorized and written extensively about optimism, have proposed that the associations between optimism and positive outcomes can be explained using an expectancy-value model of self-regulation and goals. Their model starts with the key assumption that nearly all behavior is driven, implicitly or explicitly, by goals. According to an expectancy-value model, goal-driven behavior is energized by two factors. The value of a goal refers to its desirability to the individual. Expectancies refer to beliefs about the attainability of goals. Goal pursuit is a joint function of value and expectancies: All else held equal, an individual will be more persistent in pursuing a goal when that goal is greatly valued and when the individual expects to be successful in attaining the goal. The proposed role of optimism within the expectancy-value framework is that optimists tend to have more favorable expectancies. Thus, one would expect optimists to be more persistent in pursuing desirable goals, and thus to attain better outcomes.

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