Downside of too much optimism
While beaming with positivity can be a good thing, researchers have found ‘looking on the bright side’ may have implications such as saving up for retirement or practising safe sex. Having their car stolen, getting fired from a job and developing Parkinson’s disease or cancer was among 80 scenarios which the international study’s participants faced.
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While beaming with positivity can be a good thing, researchers have found ‘looking on the bright side’ may have implications such as saving up for retirement or practising safe sex.
Having their car stolen, getting fired from a job and developing Parkinson’s disease or cancer was among 80 scenarios which the international study’s participants faced.
They were then asked to estimate their odds of misfortune, and then after some time participants were again asked to guess the likelihood of experiencing each scenario.
For instance, if a participant initially guessed a 50% chance of contracting cancer, but the average likelihood turned out to be 30%, the volunteers would “sharply reduce” their initial risk prediction the second time around. If the odds were worse than the original guess, the volunteers simply “ignored the true statistics”.
The brain scans showed increased activity in the frontal lobes, which is the part of the brain strongly associated with emotional control.
The study showed those who rated highest for optimism seemed likely to refuse to perceive risk of certain scenarios. “Our study shows we pick and choose the information we listen to. The more optimistic we are, the less likely we are to be influenced by negative information about the future,” researchers claimed.
An earlier British study revealed a link between the gene 5-HTT and individual satisfaction. Research found people with the long version of the gene were more likely to be cheerful, while those with the short version were often less cheerful.
“Seeing the glass as half full rather than half empty can be a positive thing… for our health and well-being… but it can also mean we are less likely to take precautionary action,” researchers added.
