Coaching for Optimism and Wellbeing
What is Optimism?
What do you think of when you think of optimism? What does optimism mean to you?
Understanding optimism's definition helps us understand how we can cultivate and harness optimism for positive outcomes. Typical cliches of optimism may be "looking at the world through rose-colored glasses" or "always look on the bright side of life." Interestingly, researchers who study optimism are somewhat divided on its definition.
One school of thought focuses on "dispositional optimism." Dispositional optimism suggests a consistent personality trait that lends to positive outlooks and expectations from life. A second perspective is that optimism is "attributional" in nature. From this perspective, the optimist's understanding of circumstances affects their outlook. A third understanding of optimism is that it is based on the individual's risk evaluation in a given circumstance.
What is intriguing about these perspectives on the definition of optimism is that two of three allow for change, growth, and application of optimism in a practical sense.
Growing In Optimism
Attributional optimism has a distinct focus on adverse events. In this case, optimists believe these negative events are "inconstant, external, and specific." Inconstancy suggests a belief that negative events are singular and will not occur regularly. External means they believe the negative event originates from outside the self, and they are not personally to blame. Specificity points to the fact that the adverse events affect particular parts of their life and are not all-consuming. When individuals can view a negative event as singular, outside of personal responsibility, and contained, they demonstrate attributional optimism. If optimism is a cognitive process instead of a fixed personality trait, it can be cultivated and developed for positive outcomes.
And research suggests that there are, indeed, positive effects of optimism on personal wellbeing. (See below for a list of resources to further explore the research on optimism and health and wellbeing outcomes.)
Implications of Optimism in Health
In the mental health arena, there is evidence of a negative correlation between optimism and depression, suicidal ideation, and somatic disorders and a positive correlation with resilience. From a physical health perspective, research points to positive correlations with overall physical wellbeing and negative correlations with overall cause mortality and cardiovascular health.
One reason for this is that evidence points to optimists being more likely to engage in healthy lifestyle behaviors. Because they are more likely to believe that their behaviors can have a positive effect, they are more likely to implement them.
An interesting caveat of this is unrealistic optimism. When it is taken too far, individuals can believe that "it will never happen to me" and disregard engaging in healthier lifestyle choices altogether.
So, how can we help increase optimism and positive wellbeing outcomes?
Look for examples of success in the past. Engage in the exploration of challenging situations, which resulted in a positive outcome. Identify factors that assisted the positive outcomes and consider how those factors could affect future scenarios.
Look for exceptions. Help to challenge limiting beliefs around adverse events by brainstorming situations in the past where they were not constant, self-driven, and all-encompassing. Ask questions like, "When was there a time when something difficult happened that only affected a part of your life?" or "Tell me about a time when a challenging situation was intense but brief."
Look to the future. Help to explore risk and reward by envisioning the future with or without personal change. Ask questions like, "What might life look like in 5 years if you don't make any changes?" or "What could life look like in 5 years if you did make this change?"
Look for realism. Avoid extremes of pessimism or unrealistic optimism by exploring "most likely" scenarios.
Look for confidence. Increase self-efficacy, or the belief in one's capabilities, by exploring small, manageable, and meaningful changes. These can be enacted to slowly build self-confidence and self-empowerment.
Sources for Further Exploration
Braverman MT. Research on resilience and its implications for tobacco prevention. Nicotine Tob Res. 1999;1(1):67–72.
Chang EC, Sanna LJ. Optimism, pessimism, and positive and negative affectivity in middle-aged adults: a test of a cognitive-affective model of psychological adjustment. Psychol Aging. 2001;16(3):524–31.
Conversano, C., Rotondo, A., Lensi, E., Vista, O. D., Arpone, F., & Reda, M. A. Optimism and Its Impact on Mental and Physical Well-Being. Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health, CP & EMH. 2010; 6: 25-29. https://doi.org/10.2174/1745017901006010025
Hart SL, Vella L, Mohr DC. Relationships among depressive symptoms, benefit-finding, optimism, and positive affect in multiple sclerosis patients after psychotherapy for depression. Health Psychol. 2008;27(2):230–8.
Hirsch JK, Conner KR, Duberstein PR. Optimism and suicide ideation among young adult college students. Arch Suicide Res. 2007;11(2):177–85.
Giltay EJ, Geleijnse JM, Zitman FG, Hoekstra T, Schouten EG. Dispositional optimism and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in a prospective cohort of elderly dutch men and women. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2004;61(11):1126–35.
Giltay EJ, Kamphuis MH, Kalmijn S, Zitman FG, Kromhout D. Dispositional optimism and the risk of cardiovascular death: the Zutphen Elderly Study. Arch Intern Med. 2006;166(4):431–6.
Giltay EJ, Geleijnse JM, Zitman FG, Buijsse Kromhout D. Lifestyle and dietary correlates of dispositional optimism in men: the Zutphen Elderly Study. J Psychosom Res. 2007;63(5):483–90.
Martínez-Correa A, Reyes del Paso GA, García-León A, González-Jareño MI. Relationship between dispositional optimism/pessimism and stress coping strategies. Psicothema. 2006;18(1):66–72.
Matthews KA, Räikkönen K, Sutton-Tyrrell K, Kuller LH. Optimistic attitudes protect against progression of carotid atherosclerosis in healthy middle-aged women. Psychosom Med. 2004;66(5):640–4.
Peterson C, De Avila ME. Optimistic explanatory style and the perception of health problems. J Clin Psychol. 1995;51(1):128–32.
Peterson C, Seligman ME. Explanatory style and illness. J Pers. 1987 Jun;55(2):237-65. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6494.1987.tb00436.x. PMID: 3612470.
Scheier MF, Carver CS. Optimism, coping, and health: assessment and implications of generalized outcome expectancies. Health Psychol. 1985;4(3):219–47.
Steele A, Wade TD. The contribution of optimism and quality of life to depression in an acute coronary syndrome population. Eur J Cardiovasc Nurs. 2004;3(3):231–7.
Steptoe A, Wright C, Kunz-Ebrecht SR, Iliffe S. dispositional optimism and health behavior in community-dwelling people: associations with healthy ageing. Br J Health Psychol. 2006;11(1):71–84.
Todesco P, Hillman SB. Risk perception: unrealistic optimism or realistic expectancy. Psychol Rep. 1999;84(3):731–8.
Weinstein ND. Unrealistic optimism about future life events. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1980;39(5):806–20.
