How optimism can keep you healthy during stressful times
New research digs into how optimism and pessimism affect well-being when facing stress, such as during the COVID pandemic.
An expert has answers for you about how optimism and pessimism influence well-being when facing stressors, such as those experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Do you see the glass as half empty or half full?
If you rewind to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, chances are you experienced some level of pessimism. And who could blame you? With social isolation, health concerns, and economic uncertainty, fear and anxiety became a daily reality for many.
A team of researchers from Syracuse University and Michigan State University recently explored the personal characteristics that help people handle prolonged stressors, such as the pandemic.
Led by Jeewon Oh, assistant professor of psychology at Syracuse University, the group delved into optimism and pessimism and how those mindsets influence well-being.
The group utilized data from the Health and Retirement Study, a large-scale panel study that gathers a nationally representative sample of Americans aged 50 and older (Sonnega et al., 2014).
In 2016, participants responded to questions assessing their levels of optimism, such as “In uncertain times, I usually expect the best,” and pessimism, such as “I hardly ever expect things to go my way.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic (between March and May 2020), respondents answered questions on health-related behaviors that either increased or reduced the risk of COVID transmission, including masking frequency, travel habits, and the likelihood of staying home.
The team used this data to explore how people’s mindsets affected their psychological and physical well-being during challenging times. Among their findings, they found that greater optimism promotes resilience and well-being when faced with stressors like the pandemic, while lower pessimism is linked to safer health behaviors.
Their findings appear in the Journal of Research in Personality.
Here, Jeewon Oh shares some key insights from the research:
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