Positive traits values and attitudes - OPTIMISM

Question 1

What are the two optimism traditions?

Answer 1

1) Learned optimism (Seligman et al) :Optimism as attributional style

2) Goal expectancy (Carver & Scheier): Optimism as outcome expectancies, after Bandura
• beliefs about the outcome of our behaviour

Question 2

What is learned helplessness?

what was an example?

Answer 2

• one you Experience inescapable aversive events - then Fail to avoid or escape when it is possible
• Basis of depression

Dog experiment →
• timed jumps prevent shocks, when theres a barrier that prevents jumping → do not attempt to avoid shock even when the barrier comes down = helpless

Question 3

What is Learned optimism? What model of optimism is it based on?

Answer 3

• We have control over future outcomes

* Based on model of causal attribution → attribution theory

Question 4

What are the 3 dementions of causal attribution that differ in optimism vs.pessimism

Answer 4

• Internal versus external causes
o external explanations of neg events, internal for pos.

• Stable versus unstable causes
o good events = Stable, negative events = variable/unstable (won’t happen again)

• Global versus specific causes
o neg events = specific (limited to one area) , pos events = Global → something big about me

Question 5

What are the 3 characteristics of optimistic attributions for negative outcomes

Answer 5

• External causes (Not me, but the outside world)
  • “The test questions were poorly worded”
• Unstable causes (Something that can change or vary)
  •I’ve done better on other tests
• Specific causes (Related to this situation only)
  • I do better in other courses

Question 6

What are the 3 characteristics of pessimistic attributions for negative events

Answer 6

• Internal causes (something about me personally)
  “I didn’t know the material”
• Stable causes (doesn’t change or vary)
  “I’m not good at school”
• Global causes (Realted to a wide range of situations)
  “I’m not very intellegent in general”

Question 7

List the 2 ways of assessing attributes

Answer 7

1) (extended) Attributional style questionnaire (ASQ)

2) CAVE (content of verbal explanations)

Question 8

Explain the Attributional style questionaire

Answer 8

• 24 hypothetical life events
• Half about achievement, half about affiliation
> Half are good (You become very rich, A friend compliments you on your appearance)
> Half are bad (can’t find a job, date goes badly)
- Choose one cause and rate it attributionally (external/internal, global/local, stable/unstable)

Question 9

Explain the CAVE assessment and a case in which it was used (baseball)

Answer 9

• Rate verbal explanations along 3 dimensions
• Politicians, Sports figures

1985 Mets and Cardinals → statements made for their losses in that season
• Mets: optimistic attributions for losses (External, local, unstable)
• Cards: pessimistic attributions for losses (Internal, global, stable)
• 1986: Mets win World Series; Cards collapse

Question 10

What are the 3 antecedents of optimism?

Answer 10

Genetics
• MZ style more correlated (.48) than DZ style (.00)

Home
• Stable, supportive home = optimistic style as adults
• No relation found b/w parent and child’s style (different from what you’d think)
• Parents attributed child’s failure to external factors

School
• Parental pessimistic style for child behaviour = child works below potential at school
• Teacher praise of stable traits (can’t be changed - intelligence) = more pessimism
• but rather if they praise unstable things like work ethic = more optimistic

Question 11

List the associates that come along with optimism

Answer 11

• Better academic performance
• Superior athletic performance
• More productive work records
• Greater satisfaction in relationships
• Better coping with stressors
• Less vulnerability to depression (depressed people have negative optimistic attribution style)
• Better physical health

Question 12

what is goal expectancy? (Carver & cheier) how does it differ from seligmans attribution style?

Answer 12

• Outcome we expect from our behaviour
• Seligman is past and current experiences → what causes these events
• Carver & Scheier: expectations for future outcomes (in line with traditional definition of optimism and pessimism)

Question 13

How do we define optimism in relation to goal expectancy?

Answer 13

• Tendency to believe good rather than bad things will happen
• Behaviour-outcome expectancies
• Depression → pessimistic about the past and future

Question 14

how do we measure for goal expectancy? (LOT-R)

Answer 14

• Life orientation test – revised (LOT-R):
  • 10 statements on 5-point Likert scale from “Strongly Agree” to “Strongly Disagree”
  • 6 test statements, 4 filler items

LOT-R

• In uncertain times I usually expect the best
• If something can go wrong for me it will

Question 15

How do optimists cope with negative events?

Answer 15

• Optimists: approach-oriented, problem-focused coping (face the problem head on, action oriented)
• Information seeking
• Active coping and planning (is dilemma controllable)
• Positive reframing (if we don’t have control - illness = find the silver lining)
• Use of humour → uncontrollable situations
• Acceptance → it is what it is and we have to accept it

Question 16

How do pessimists cope with negative events?

Answer 16

- Pessimist: withdrawal-oriented, emotion-focused coping → aren't dealing with the problem, nut rather with their emotions about it 
• Thought suppression
• Giving up
• Self-distraction
• Focus on distress (rumination) 
• Overt denial

Question 17

WHat did sheier et al find about optimism and coronary bypass surgery? (what did optimists report day before, week after, 6mths after)

Answer 17

• Questionnaires day before, week after, 6 months after

• Before surgery: optimists report
less hostility, depression

• 1 week after surgery: optimists report more happiness, relief and satisfaction with medical care, emotional support
• 6 months and 5 years alter: optimists report Higher quality of life

Question 18

What is an alternative reason for way optimist report higher levels of emotional support after bypass surgery?

Answer 18

• Also possible that optimist tend to elicit from others behaviour that is more positive → reciprocal determinism, optimist receive more support as they elicit these behaviours
(reciprocal determinism)

Question 19

Are LOT-R, ASQ and CAVE all measuring the same things? What things do high levels correlate to?

Answer 19

Looks like they are because Both have similar correlates to
• Good mood
• No or low depression
• Good health
• Active coping
• Achievement
> Converge when studied together (rarely) → when both scores looked at they are highly correlated and predict the same behaviour

Question 20

What is rumination?

Answer 20

→ go over the situation in their minds thinking about all the bad things that might happen without thinking about how to deal with the problem

Question 21

What is maladaptive optimism?

Answer 21

underestimate risk , overestimate chance of winning - always assume good things will happen - causes addiction to gambling

Question 22

What is Optimist bias?

is it the case that most optismists are excessively optimistic to the point of negative outcomes?

Answer 22

Optimistic bias = the tendancy to expect more positive than negative outcomes
→ bottom line NO, optimism has limitations
- dimishish in cases in which behaviour does not impact outcome (exception = gamblers)
- bias reduced if performance is verifiable (can be measured), strongest when its subjective
- biased beliefs are generally not too distant from reality

Question 23

What are the associates that come along with LOT-R Optimism (outcome expectancies)

Answer 23

• Starting university
• Work performance
• Enduring missile attack → studies in Israel - optimist deal better
• Caring for cancer patients
• Bone marrow transplants → recover faster
• Coping with cancer → less pain, better post-op recovery
• Coping with AIDS
• Post-partum depression

Question 24

What are neurological features explain why we see this difference b/w positive and negative affect?

Answer 24

• More activity and dopamine in (left) frontal cortex ( left activity more associated with positive emotions, Right associated with negative emotion)

Question 25

How does negative vs. positive affect influence where you focus attention?

Answer 25

* Positive = more attentive to things Outside than inside * More processing of information as they are, more attentive to things outside themselves, including information → optimism → reasonable hypothesis • Negative affect impacts sense of self, shame, guilt, fear, anxiety = more inward looking,

Question 26

What is Attribution Re-training?

Answer 26

Programs to help people be more optimistic with a Focus on young people

Question 27

What is cognitive reconstructing for kids? What is the problem and advantage of this?

Answer 27

* Swap pessimistic for optimistic attributions → Seligman’s view (exchange global, internal, unchangeable for unstable, changing, local and external) * Modeling or social reward (praise) → praise more optimistic attributions, Problem: New attributions may be fragile: • May be unrealistic as old attributions • Evidence may suggest attributions incorrect • Advantage → children already have strongly negative and pessimistic attributions for their success and failure so any shift toward optimism is more realistic

Question 28

What is the Penn Resiliency Program (PRP)

Answer 28

- In-school group CBT program for high risk middle-school students. Designed to prevent high school depression → already shown depressive symptoms, unstable homes, not doing well academically are all predictors

Question 29

What are alternate explanations for why people with positive expectations experience positive outcomes, and why negative expectations experience negative outcomes?

Answer 29

* Are these just realistic expectations – do circumstances cause positive/negative outcomes? * Not expectancies but evaluations → have a reason to be optimistic as their situation is easier to deal with (i.e. not a terminal cancer) * Pessimism associated with risky behaviour – does that cause negative outcomes? * Maybe risky behaviour that is responsible for negative outcomes not the pessimism

Question 30

How does PRP use Skill acquisition to help middles school children?

Answer 30

* Problem-solving * Emotion-control ( moderate negative emotions to think more clearly) * Relaxation → difficult to have negative emotions when you are relaxed * Assertiveness → stand up for themselves = state their needs, not remaining silent; * Negotiation → likely to help with dealing with future problems * countering procrastination

Question 31

What study was conducted evaluating PRP

Answer 31

* Children at high risk for highschool/ adult depression * Compared with control group of at risk kids who didn't go through PRP program * Followed for 3 years * Short term → substantial difference * Control → half developed depressive symptoms over the next year * PRP → only 20% developed depressive symptoms * After three years insignificant (need a booster session)

Question 32

What are thoughts/tendencies that tend to be associated with negative affect/depression (10 things)

Answer 32

* tendency to Dichotomize: label outcome as success or failure → no in b/w * Overgeneralization: one event – life in general * Selective abstraction: focus on negative feedback not entire outcome (ex. essays) * Disqualifying the positive → reasons positive feedback doesn’t matter * Mind reading and fortune telling → draw inference about mental states from behaviour, predicting future in negative way * Maximizing, minimizing → max negative, min positive * Emotional reasoning: your feelings = reality * Should statements: to control behaviour → ideal self (Rodgers) * Global labeling: I’m a failure * Personalization: I am responsible → attributing personal reasons to someone else’s behaviours

Question 33

what are 3 characteristics of optimistic beliefs?

Answer 33

* Don’t get too far out of line (bounded) * Are strategic * Help people meet their goals * Used selectively, not indiscriminately (not shown up in every situation, appear selectively) * Are adjusted to match situation (responsive)

Question 34

what did Aspinwall & Brunhart (1996) find about how optimists process information regarding health practices (vitamins, UV) differently than pessimists?

Answer 34

* Pay more attention/remember more negative info → pessimist shy away form info health risk * More elaborative processing of negative info → pessimist = superficial processing * More attention to most useful information → selective attention to info directly relevant to their behaviour to help them minimize risk

Question 35

Whats an alternative explanation of why optimists process health info differently?

Answer 35

Maybe positive affect due to optimism is responsible not optimism itself

Question 36

What was found of people higher in positive affect

Answer 36

* More sensitive to important features of task * More risks when stakes unimportant * Less risk when stakes real and significant → More risk averse and take fewer risk; negative affect take risks * More processing of negative info about self

Question 37

What are neurological features of positive affect?

Answer 37

- More dopamine in (left) frontal cortex? (Right associated with negative emotion)

Question 38

How does negative vs. positive affect influence where you focus attention?

Answer 38

* Positive = more Outside than inside * More processing of information as they are, more attentive to things outside themselves, including information → optimism → reasonable hypothesis • Negative affect impacts sense of self, shame, guilt, fear, anxiety = more inward looking,

Question 39

What is cognitive reconstructing for kids? What is the advantage of this?

Answer 39

* Swap pessimistic for optimistic attributions → Seligman’s view (exchange global, internal, unchangeable for unstable, changing, local and external) * Modeling or social reward (praise) → praise more optimistic attributions, * New attributions may be fragile: * May be unrealistic as old attributions * Evidence may suggest attributions incorrect • Advantage → children already have strongly negative and pessimistic for their success and failure so any shift toward optimism is more realistic

Question 40

How is optimism encouraged in psychotherapy?

Answer 40

- Cognitive behavioural therapy focus on the ways in which people think about the events that happen to them that are pessimistic

Question 41

Why is there less litrature on internal vs. external causes (in terms of sttributions)

Answer 41

- correlates less consistently than others - more difficult to assess reliably - doesn't directly affect expectations confounds self-blame and self-efficacy

Question 42

what are the characteristics of optimistic beliefs?

Answer 42

- don't get too far off line - bounded by reality - are strategic (help people meet goals, beliefs are used selectively in situations where you have control) - flexible - adjusted to match the situation