![]() ![]() Similarly, Gordeeva and colleagues ( 16) found a positive link between defensive optimism (the tendency to diminish the risk of the emergence of negative events) and failure to comply with the stay-at-home rule in their study conducted in Russia in March and April 2020. In a study conducted in Serbia, the participants who scored higher on the UOS–NLE subscale (measuring unrealistic optimism towards negative life events) assessed the risk connected with COVID-19 infection as lower and declared lower compliance with the pandemic restrictions. ![]() According to Oljača and colleagues ( 15), the optimistic bias may indeed influence attitudes towards compliance with restrictions. People who were asked about their chances of getting infected were generally optimistic and assessed the personal risk of contracting coronavirus as lower than others.įurther research results also point to the implications of the positive bias for health-related behaviours ( 13, 14). Similar results were obtained in other European countries (France, Great Britain, Switzerland, and Italy) in February 2020 before the collapse of the healthcare system in Italy ( 12). In their study, the pattern of unrealistic optimism in the face of the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic emerged. The research of Dolinski and colleagues ( 1) was conducted in March 2020 when the media reported about the first people diagnosed with coronavirus in Poland. The researchers tested whether subjects would perceive that they are exposed to the disease to the same extent as the average person like themselves or if they would be affected by the unrealistic optimism (or the opposite – unrealistic pessimism) bias. Dolinski and his colleagues ( 1) decided to verify if the imminent COVID-19 pandemic would stimulate the expression of unrealistic optimism. The issue of unrealistic optimism has grown in importance in light of recent research on the perceived risk of infection during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, unrealistic optimism could lead to reckless behaviours during the pandemic, such as ignoring the protective measures recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO keeping a social distance, covering mouth and nose with a mask, avoiding crowded or indoor settings, etc.) which could lead to spreading the disease ( 1). Unrealistic optimism during the COVID-19 pandemicīeing unrealistically optimistic about one’s chances of being infected by coronavirus (and the ability to infect others) may lead to the illusion that obeying the strict policies imposed by the government is simply unnecessary in one’s case ( 11). People who perceive themselves as better drivers than others admit to violating speed limits ( 10), and young women who presume they are less likely than others to get pregnant are also less likely to use effective contraception methods-such behaviour could result in an unwanted pregnancy ( 8). Unrealistic optimism is also correlated with risky and hazardous behaviours. For example, unrealistic optimism may be related to developing some dire conditions such as coronary disease ( 5), alcoholism ( 9), breast cancer in women, and prostate cancer in men ( 6) as people have tendency to underestimate own risk of developing serious health problems. Although some researchers ( 4) posit that unrealistic optimism functions as a positive illusion that helps people to cope with potentially threatening experiences by reducing anxiety, others ( 6, 8– 10) point to the maladaptive aspects of the optimistic bias. Its dark side variant is so-called unrealistic optimism, a cognitive bias that makes people think that negative events are more likely to happen to others, and positive events are more likely to happen to them ( 6, 7). However, not all aspects of optimism are desirable or beneficial.ĭispositional optimism “is defined as the generalized positive expectancy that one will experience good outcomes” ( 5) and is mostly responsible for the above-mentioned benefits. ![]() Some authors ( 3, 4) suggest that future studies should be focused on evaluating the benefits of interventions that are aimed at reducing pessimism and promoting optimism. For example, optimism is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality ( 3). According to recent meta-analyses, optimism is believed to be associated with benefits of various types, including health and well-being ( 2, 3). While pessimists tend to contemplate the worst-case scenario, optimists believe that good things will happen to them ( 1). It is common for people to make predictions about their future.
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