Optimism is thought to be beneficial for health, and these effects may be mediated through modifications in psychophysiological stress reactivity. Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is associated with reduced cardiovascular responses to stress and heightened cortisol over the day. This study assessed the relationships between optimism, stress responsivity, and daily cortisol output in people with T2D. A tot...

BACKGROUND Persons with an optimistic attitude do not give up despite obstacles and failures. Optimistic athletes compete more out of hope for success than out of fear of defeat. The purpose of my research was to determine if optimism also promotes good health behavior in athletes. MATERIAL/METHODS In order to measure the role of optimism in shaping the health behavior of athletes, I examined...

Overoptimistic predictions are common in software engineering projects, e.g., the average software project cost overrun is about 30%. This paper examines the use of two popular general tests of optimism (the ASQ and the LOT-R test) to select software engineers that are less likely to provide overoptimistic predictions. A necessary, but not sufficient, condition for this use is that there is a s...

This paper provides a novel understanding of delays in reaching agreements: second-order optimism. Under second-order optimism, it is “common knowledge” that there will be delays in reaching agreement. Nonetheless, negotiators do not put forward offers that both parties objectively prefer, because they fear that, by doing so, the other party will become more optimistic about her future prospect...

Background and Objectives: Spiritual well-being is one of the most important aspects of the quality of life that affects women's health and development. The present study aimed to evaluate the predictive role of spiritual well-being for optimism and life expectancy among women who referred to health centers. Methods: This descriptive study was conducted based on a correlational research design...

People appear to be biased in their predictions of the future; predicting that projects will take less time than they actually will (see Roy et al., 2005a; Buehler et al., 2010; Halkjelsvik and Jørgensen, 2012, for review) and that they will be unlikely to experience future misfortunes (see Dunning et al., 2004, for review). These biases are frequently attributed to people being overly optimist...

BACKGROUND Positive psychological constructs, such as optimism, are associated with beneficial health outcomes. However, no study has separately examined the effects of multiple positive psychological constructs on behavioral, biological, and clinical outcomes after an acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Accordingly, we aimed to investigate associations of baseline optimism and gratitude with subseq...