Role Of Optimism In Research

Trait Definition
Optimism is defined as the attitude of anticipating positive outcomes and that wishes or aims will ultimately be fulfilled (Optimism, 2007). Optimistic individuals also believe that things happen for the best and despite the circumstances, there will be a successful outcome. Referred as a positive mental thinking, individuals with optimism are more likely to have positive expectation and view life events more positively (He et al, 2013). Individual who poses this trait have favorable expectations for the future. Optimism is also referred to as dispositional optimism, which is the general tendency to expect positive outcomes On the contrary, the trait pessimistic is used as a term opposite of optimistic. Conversely, there exist different forms of optimism that researchers utilize. …show more content…
Unrealistic optimism, contextualized (goal-specific) optimism, and strategic optimism are few examples of the different types of optimism used in the field of research in psychology (Carver 2014). Contextualized optimism is defined as having expectation for a good outcome in a specific situation. Strategic optimism is defined as a specific denial of risk based on the thought of being in control (Ruthig et al., 2007). Unrealistic optimism is defined as the idea that people expect a favorable outcome when it is unrealistically justifiable to expect such outcome (Carver 2014). For the sole purpose of this paper, the term dispositional optimism and unrealistic optimism will be