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Optimism and physical health
Effects of optimism on physical health
Optimism and physical health
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Discussion The importance dispositional optimism as a facilitator of well-being, positive health, flourishing, and quality of life has been documented in the positive psychology literature. Dispositional optimism evaluated by the LOT-R is a positive personality trait characterized by favorable personal future expectation (Scheier et al., 1994). It has been emphasized that optimism is a malleable personality trait and that pessimists can become optimists by utilizing techniques such as positive psychology interventions (Carver et al., 2009; Seligman, 2011). In contrast to traditional psychological interventions, positive psychology interventions have a strong focus on cultivating positive personality traits including dispositional optimism. …show more content…
Discrimination and threshold indices revealed that each item of the LOT-R was able to distinguish satisfactorily among student veterans with different levels of dispositional optimism and satisfactorily covered the spectrum of the latent trait. The IRT analysis identified that Optimism 1 (i.e., “In certain times, I usually expect the best.”) is slightly less effective in distinguishing among student veterans with different levels of dispositional optimism. This finding confirms the factor analysis finding that Optimism 1 (i.e., “In certain times, I usually expect the best.”) has less factor loading compared to other five items in the …show more content…
The results showed a pattern of correlations between the LOT-R and positive psychology constructs (i.e., hope, resilience, coping flexibility, secure attachment, life satisfaction, and flourishing) in the expected direction, supporting convergent validity. The negative relationship between the LOT-R and the constructs related to psychopathology (i.e., depression, anxiety, stress, and self-stigma) further supports its divergent validity. These findings are consistent with previous research findings that dispositional optimism was found to be positively correlated with well-being, quality of life, life satisfaction, and positive health outcomes, and negatively correlated with depression, anxiety, stress, and social estrangement (Chiesi et al., 2013; Geers et al., 2009; Peterson,
Taking the following questionnaire: Satisfaction with Life Scale, Approaches to Happiness Scale, and Authentic Happiness Inventory, helped me evaluate my life. Many times due to circumstance we forget in what positon our life is standing at the moment. We forget how much we have accomplished in the past and how much we have invested to make our future a good one. For the Satisfaction with life scale, I score a 33(love their life and feel that everything is going very well). People may might say well she is living a perfect life, but to be honest is not that is being perfect, is that one day years ago I made a decision of not letting anything take away what I have worked hard for. According to Earl & Carol Diener, because positive moods energize approach tendencies, it desirable that people on average be in a positive mood (1996). If I make a mistake, which is possible because am human, what I do is learn from it. It’s like what the Apostol from the church I go to says” you control life, not life controlling you.”
Personality predispositions can determine levels of extraversion, which determine the levels to which one seeks social support, thus determining positive affect. Similarly, personality predispositions can determine levels of neuroticism that may influence one’s style of coping in the face of both positive and negative external factors which can determine negative affect (Diener, 1996). Happiness, a core aspect of positive subjective wellbeing, involves maintaining a superior level of positive affect in comparison to negative effect, based on specific positive or negative emotions linked to the recent experiences in one’s life (Emmons & Diener, 1985). Positive emotions such as joy and pride must trump negative emotions such as frustration and sadness in the recent past or present in order for an individual to feel happy. Life satisfaction builds on this and is a cognitive valuation of the quality of an individual’s experiences as a sum throughout their entire life (Emmons & Diener, 1985). Individual personality traits have been found to influence the different patterns and levels of life satisfaction, positive and negative affects and simply general, overall happiness (McCrae, 1983).
If someone thinks negatively towards something the outcome will not be good, and vice versa. Thinking you can achieve the American dream is a major key in doing so, and some Americans are already on the right track. In the U.S., a survey showed that 36 percent of Americans say they have achieved the dream, and another 46 percent believe they are on the path of achieving it. It is not so easy, though, to always look on the bright side. Sometimes it seems as if nothing is going right; that is when negativity occurs. People can argue that mindset has little impact on the outcome, or that it does not matter how positive a person is because some things are just not meant to be. An article, however, proves this wrong. The paper argues how negative emotions prevent humans from flourishing; it also states, “if your ratio of positive to negative emotions is greater than 2.9013 to one, you will flourish both physically and psychologically.” If a person believes in themselves, they are more likely to accomplish their
Positive Psychology is the strengths and virtues a person or a community poses that lead to its optimal performance and allow it to thrive.This is a beneficial study that has the chance to improve the lives of many as well as preventing some negative situations. This review looks into what Positive Psychology is and how it impacts our lives. The sources I selected look into a broad overview of Positive Psychology, and it looks into deeper more specific aspects of Positive Psychology. This review has to lead me to believe that if we see ourselves and the future in a positive way it will have a positive effect on our lives.
According to the professor and fiction writer Bret Lott, what makes a story a “good story” is having writing that makes someone consider all possibilities, supernatural or not and by having a story with details that are meaningful to the person writing it. In Lott’s introduction he says, “We are writers who, by the power of Christ, are trying to smash the gates of serious literature with the joy and light and hope of a personal, saving, supernatural God” (3). Lott shows that a good story makes one really have to consider if a supernatural God plays a role in it. For example, one of Lott’s stories was about his prayer being answered by God. The prayer was answered when one of Lott’s students asks, “If I were to read a book from the bible, which
Positive psychology utilizes five pillars in order to flourish, achieve fulfillment, and satisfaction in life: Positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment (PERMA). The five mainstays of positive psychology are not intended to be means to some other end; these foundations are selected for their own value in personal efforts to flourish, and are fundamental to human well-being. Positive psychology describes the “good life” as being pleasant, engaging, meaningful, and full of achievements and connections. Seligman proposes positive subjective experiences illicit and promote positive emotions. Positive psychology distinguishes two types of happiness that can be derived from experiences and events: Hedonic and eudemonic happines...
It has become widely accepted that optimism serves as a predictor of positive health outcomes (Rasmussen, H., Scheier, M., & Greenhouse, J., 2009). One particular study assessed the role of optimism and pessimism in children and adolescents. This study revealed the importance of developing optimism in children as it serves as a protective factor, not just in daily life hassles, but in medical complications as well. Furthermore, having an optimistic outlook on the future serves as a predictor of better medication and medical treatment adherence in children and adolescence with chronic illnesses. The development of an optimistic mindset development in childhood is particularly important in that it also serves to promote adult well-being (Ey et al., 2004). An additional study assessed the roles of optimism and pessimism on mental health and physical health. The findings from this study emphasize the importance of optimism on mental and physical well-being, which is particularly important for understanding the role of optimism in chronic illnesses, such as HIV
Sometimes people need to chase self-love and self-understanding before they can go on the journey of chasing optimism. That said, self-experience leads the way to optimism. I myself have long-struggled, trying to surpass challenges that were bestowed upon me; at times I have only been able to see the possible negative outcomes. I have suffered, and still suffer, from an anxiety disorder that led me to overthink every precise detail of every event I had to do, and then overthink it after I had done it. It was nothing but over-interpretive thoughts and self-loathing from being so insecure. The challenge that I faced was learning to cope with my mental disorder and refusing to be consumed by
Firstly, people who show an optimism bias feel more happy and satisfied with their life. These people are also more in control of and engaged in their life’s goal, they will not just think about happy thoughts and wait for life to pass, instead they will be engaged in a meaningful life and do whatever it takes to accomplish their goals. They are also less likely to give up on a difficult situation and will cope with it. These are people who will not wait for the rain to pass but who learn to dance in the rain in order to fulfil their life’s goal. Unrealistic optimism shows an increased well-being and happiness. With this increased well-being, unrealistically optimistic people are also more able to pick themselves up after a major life
Ong, A. D., Bergeman, C. S., Bisconti, T. L., & Wallace, K. A. (2006). Psychological resilience, positive emotions, and successful adaptation to stress in later life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91(4), 730.
In the United States 20% of the adult population report that they are living a flourishing life (Keyes, 2002). However, a high percentage reports feeling as if they are ‘‘stuck’’ or ‘‘want more’’ and are yet not diagnosable with a mental disorder (Fredrickson, 2008). Because happiness has been found to be the source of many desirable life outcomes e.g. career success, marriage, and health, it is of importance to understand, how languishing individuals can reach this ideal state: How can well-being be enhanced and misery reduced (Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener, 2005). Over the past decade, research in the field of positive psychology has emerged to provide evidence-based methods to increase an individual’s psychological well-being, through so called positive psychology interventions (PPI’s). PPI’s are treatment methods or intentional activities used to promote positive feelings or behaviour. PPI’s vary from writing gratitude letters, practicing optimistic thinking and replaying positive experiences. A meta-analysis of 51 independent PPI studies demonstrated significant results in the effectiveness of PPI’s increasing well-being (49 studies; r = .29) (Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009).
Only in recent years have psychologists begun to appreciate the benefits of happiness and positive emotion — benefits that include everything from enhanced creativity to improved immune-system function. Dr. Barbara Fredrickson at the University of North Carolina, a leader in the field of positive psychology, posed the question, “What good are positive emotions?” and came up with the following possibilities.
It is interesting to note that the field of positive psychology, described by Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi (2000) as “a science of positive subjective experience, positive individual traits and positive institutions” (p. 5), has flourished over the last 15 years. This has been a time of relative peace and prosperity, conditions most would associate with contentment and joy, but also a time, as argued by Ryan and Deci (2001, p. 142), during which the more affluent among us may have discovered that financial security and material possessions alone do not necessarily equate to happiness. As Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi (2000, p. 6) explain, prior to World War II, making the lives of all people more productive was one of three aims of the field of psychology, the other two being to cure mental illness and detect and foster extraordinary ability. Following the war however, the economic benefit to psychologists of treating mental illness narrowed the focus of psychology firmly on repair rather than prevention. Psychologists came to see people as passive beings being acted upon by external stressors and it is this view that positive psychology aims to change. Sheldon and King (2001, p. 216) maintain that the field of positive psychology encourages psychologists to embrace a more unrestricted and valued perspective of human potential, hopes and strengths; a view also espoused by Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi (2000, p. 8) who suggest that the major psychological theories (psychoanalytical, behavioural and humanistic) have now been transformed by the bolstering of a new science of “strength and resilience” (p. 8). Much research therefore is currently focusse...
While retiring to bed at night, one should say "it was a nice day and now I can have a relaxed sleep. Let the tomorrow be brighter, fresher and cheerful" Psychologists insist on having just positive thoughts. When you recurrently habit yourself with such thoughts, your mind and body are used to the positive vibrations they set in. Once your body is a harbor of positive thinking, you can never run out of hope and optimism.
Mental attitude refers to the complex mental state of a person which includes beliefs, emotions, values, and attitudes on which one’s acts certainly. Even before until now, self-help books and popular beliefs have already speculated the power of positive mental attitude in the lives of a person. Similarly, a number of theories on positive psychology may support this claim. On the basis of Seligman’s (1998) theory, pessimists tend to explain bad events that happened in their life as internal, stable, and global throughout their lives. Such people tend to develop learned helplessness and are prone to depression. Personal outlook in life, therefore, affects students’ performance. In school, study shows that pessimistic student performs less than their level of “talent” whereas optimistic student performs high (Seligman,