Seligman's Theory Of Optimism

Exercise 1 Optimism refers to how an individual interprets and explains life’s events. If a situation turns out to be negative, the optimistic individual relates the outcome to external, unstable, out of one’s control and does not take it personally (Rana & Chadha, 2017). When outcomes are positive in nature, the optimistic individual believes it will occur again in the future relating the success to the individual’s attributions (Rana & Chadha, 2017). Whereas, the pessimistic person views a negative event as the result of personal factors, internalizes the failure and views positive events as pure luck (Rana & Chadha, 2017). Researchers believe that optimism can be learned. According to Borkowski (2016), theorist Martin Seligman developed

Individuals can learn to be optimistic by recognizing and changing their negative thoughts by utilizing a different explanatory approach. Research indicates that children who grow up in an encouraging environment, experiencing a positive loving attachment to their parents who convey an optimistic explanatory style develop learn optimism (Rana & Chadha, 2017). According to Rana & Chadha (2017), optimistic caregivers who foster a safe and loving environment can promote learned optimism, resultant in an increase in performance from the individual (p. 606). The learned optimism theory can be applied by managers in the workplace, fostering an environment which is positive, encouraging, and supportive. If managers employ an optimistic explanatory method the more optimistic the employee will be which will improve the employee’s productivity. A negative thought or belief can be undone when managers utilizes an optimistic explanatory style, enabling the employee to feel good about themselves and the situation. In addition, studies indicate that individuals who are optimistic have a better immune system then those who are pessimistic; these individuals are able to cope with situations, working through the problem, finding a solution to the issue rather than feeling hopeless or victimized (Borkowski,

Cognitive psychology suggest cognitive shortcuts are utilized when there is too much information to process, not enough time available to process or there is a lack data (Yalcin et al., 2016). Framing heuristics is the propensity to make decisions based on how the information is presented, for example, is the glass half empty or half full (Borkowski, 2016). In other words, the outcome of the decision is depended on how the individual depicts the information. The escalation of commitment is when an individual or organization makes a poor decision (i.e. wasting of resources) based on a mistake made or fear of failure, even though a person viewing the situation from the outside has concerns or a different opinion (Borkowski, 2016). The expression “throwing good money away after bad” illustrates the escalation of commitment (Borkowski, 2016). When managers are faced with difficult decisions; the outcome of the decision is dependent on the way the information is presented (negatively or positively) which will affect the end results. In other words, people make decisions based on how the information is presented, in turn, the decision may produce an escalation in commitment. For example, a manager might continue to allocate resources for a futile