Resilience
Adam Staten, Euan Lawson in GP Wellbeing, 2017
What do we mean by optimism? Southwick and Charney regard this as a ‘future orientated attitude.’ Optimists tend to believe that the future will be bright and that good things will happen to people who work hard. Psychologists have developed tests to measure optimism. Some of the most resilient people that have been studied have been the most optimistic. Psychologists have investigated why optimists seem to be particularly resilient. It has been suggested that this leads us back to the fight-or-flight reaction that has already been described. It has been shown that when we have positive emotions it tends to reduce physiological arousal, so there is a direct mechanism to ensure that people get various benefits from their optimism. These are things such as improved attention and ability to actively problem solve as well as our greater interest in socialising.
Psychological, Social, and Quality of Life Considerations in Short Bowel Syndrome
John K. DiBaise, Carol Rees Parrish, Jon S. Thompson in Short Bowel Syndrome Practical Approach to Management, 2017
Four personal characteristics associated with improved coping ability include hardiness, locus of control, learned resourcefulness, and optimism [22]. Resilient or hardy people take action, believe that life experiences are controllable, and view problems as a challenge to be solved. Locus of control refers to an individual’s perception about control of life events. Internal locus of control means that an individual believes that he or she can control external events through his or her behavior or action. Conversely, individuals with external locus of control believe that outcomes of life events are determined by factors outside their control. Learned resourcefulness refers to an individual’s degree of self-confidence and ability to problem solve, reach out to others, and self-regulate emotional responses when dealing with highly stressful situations. Lastly, optimism plays a role in how an individual will respond to life’s uncertainty or adversity. Those individuals demonstrating high optimism view the cup as half full. They tend to have a general expectation that good will happen. When confronted with adversity, they view the situation as a temporary “bump in the road” or setback, resulting in renewed efforts to overcome the problem. Success enhances self-confidence and reinforces that good things will indeed happen. Alternately, pessimists view any deviation toward their goal as representing defeat, and this reinforces the notion that more bad things are likely to happen. These events in turn become self-fulfilling prophecies.
Living Optimally
Lisa D. Hinz in Beyond Self-Care for Helping Professionals, 2018
The feelings of hope and efficacy associated with psychological capital encourage exceptional capabilities and outcomes in individuals. Resilience and optimism promote positive appraisals of circumstances and predictions of success (Youssef-Morgan & Luthans, 2015). It is easy to see how psychological capital is related to satisfied and well-performing practitioners, and conse quently, we can understand how to increase psychological capital to replenish the deep well that promotes life enrichment and professional excel lence. Psychological capital can be developed through education, interven tion, and practice (Meyers, et al., 2015). Both strengths-based and deficiencies-based interventions can increase psychological capital, but greater increases in hope have been found with strengths-based interventions (Meyers, et al., 2015).
Association between schizotypal personality trait and dispositional optimism among prisoners: Findings from some selected male prisoners in a Nigerian prison
Published in International Journal of Mental Health, 2020
Babatola Dominic Olawa, Erhabor Sunday Idemudia
Considering that the present conditions of the prison system may not improve soon, it is important to examine the psychological variables that could enhance positive feelings and well-being among inmates. One particular variable of interest is optimism, ranking as one of the major concepts in positive psychology (Malik, 2013), a key psychosocial factor in positive psychiatry (Jeste et al., 2017), and an important evolutionary aspect of survival (Parashar, 2009). Optimism is described as a mental attitude in which one perceives positivity everywhere, feels generally confident, hopeful of better future outcomes, and usually views the presence of potential opportunities in the world (Hetch, 2013). Optimistic individuals tend to see a happy ending for their troubles and usually expect better days to come (Rezaei et al., 2015).
The impact of COVID-19 on college anxiety, optimism, gratitude, and course satisfaction
Published in Journal of American College Health, 2022
Duke D. Biber, Bridget Melton, Daniel R. Czech
Positive psychology can explain “the conditions and processes that contribute to the flourishing or optimal functioning of people, groups, and institutions”.5 Positive psychology focuses on subjective experiences, individual-level traits, and group-level virtues.6 Variables such as optimism and gratitude can promote personal well-being, which can significantly impact college student educational performance.7–8 Gratitude can be defined as “part of a wider life orientation towards noticing and appreciating the positive in the world,” and is related to health benefits such as improved well being. Optimism is defined as seeing and expecting the future in a positive manner.9 Optimism and gratitude are negatively associated with helplessness, stress, depression, and psychopathology, and positively associated with emotional functioning, mental health, the Big 5 psychological traits, and life satisfaction.10–12
Does teaching Optimism lower Burnout in residency training– a pilot study
Published in Journal of Community Hospital Internal Medicine Perspectives, 2021
Daniel I. Kim, Lawrence K. Loo, Roger C. Garrison, Ali Motabar, Minho Yu, Brandon Nathaniel, Michael T. Ulrich, Lynnetta Skoretz, Jasmine Jafari, Megan Calzia, Mariam Gilmore, Anthony Firek
Stress management programs and strategies focusing on improving resilience have shown inconsistent results [1,10]. Studies on curricula have primarily focused on mindfulness-based stress reduction and while many have shown reductions in burnout, most studies were not controlled, were subject to volunteer bias, or reported mixed results[1]. There is clearly an urgent need to develop programs that demonstrate consistent effectiveness in decreasing the risk for burnout, particularly in resident physicians. The concept of optimism has recently emerged as a potentially important determinant of how physicians may respond to stressors[1]. There is evidence that improving optimism can help deal with stressors that lead to burnout[11]. Support for this concept has been demonstrated in a recent single-center study in residents showing an inverse relationship between optimism and burnout[12]. Optimism has also been associated with multiple psychological and health outcomes [13,14] and has been shown to be a strong predictor of job burnout. Interventions that increase optimism have been shown to improve life satisfaction, decrease anxiety and disability, and increase health-related quality of life[15]. In addition to organizational interventions, improving individual factors like optimism may be very influential in improving burnout[16].
Related Knowledge Centers
- Pessimism
- Phenotypic Trait
- Psychological Resilience
- Psychological Stress
- Heritability
- Is The Glass Half Empty Or Half Full?
- Psychology
- Trait Theory
- Explanatory Style
- Environmental Factor