weinstein notion of unrealistic optimism

#WEINSTEIN NOTION OF UNREALISTIC OPTIMISM FREE#

Personality and Individual Differences, 54(7), 821–827.īeck, A. Great expectations: A meta-analytic examination of optimism and hope. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 48(3), 251–257.Īlarcon, G. Where oh where are the specific ingredients? A meta-analysis of component studies in counseling and psychotherapy.

#WEINSTEIN NOTION OF UNREALISTIC OPTIMISM FREE#

To learn more, please feel free to get in touch.Ahn, H., & Wampold, B. Understanding the factors that are driving unhealthy behaviours is key to driving healthy behaviours. What is your perceived risk of ill health or the implications of unhealthy behaviours? What about your customers, patients, or those you are developing preventative health interventions for? Harnessing optimism bias to drive healthier choices

You might feel indestructible, but just as your optimism bias is on the rise, so is your health risk. Before you know it, you have a multitude of unhealthy behaviours, which further increases your risk of ill health. The problem is, being fortunate enough to escape the negative consequences of one unhealthy behaviour increases your unrealistic optimism in relation to other unhealthy behaviours. Perhaps you will be one of the lucky ones who doesn’t get lung cancer from smoking or who avoids COVID-19 despite not following recommended safety protocols. Regardless of whether optimism bias or cognitive dissonance is at play, the belief that one is less likely to experience adverse health issues than others can lead a person to feel bulletproof.

However, it could also be argued that cognitive dissonance is also playing a role – where we develop optimism bias to reduce our discomfort with carrying out a behaviour we know is unhealthy or dangerous. Optimism bias is extremely common in health-related situations, driving us to carry out unhealthy behaviours despite our knowledge of the potential dangers. This altered perception illustrates a false sense of security that arises based on sharing a risk with many other people. In other words, an individual’s perceived risk decreases as the number of people who are exposed to the same risk increases. Interestingly, our perceptions of risk – and our optimism bias – are also influenced by the number of people who are exposed to the same risk. While this appears to be a sensible basis for such decisions, optimism bias skews this perceived risk. Perceived risk is a key determinant of whether or not we engage in preventative health behaviours. This idea was first demonstrated in 1980 by Human Ecology Professor Neil Weinstein, who found that the majority of college students in his study believed they had a lower chance of divorce or developing a drinking problem than that of other students. These are all examples of ‘unrealistic optimism bias’ – the unfounded belief that your chances of encountering a negative event are lower than that of other people. “I’m not going to adhere to lockdown measures during a pandemic, but I won’t get COVID-19.” “I’m overweight, but I won’t develop diabetes.” Optimism Bias and Health Behaviour: “It won’t happen to me!”īy healthpsychologyconsultancy on Ma

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Weinstein notion of unrealistic optimism