In a conceptual and temporal framework, derived from research on social cognition, social interaction, and stress and coping, the authors analyze the processes through which people anticipate or detect potential stressors and act in advance to prevent them or to mute their impact (proactive coping). The framework specifies five stages in proactive coping: (1) resource accumulation, (2) recognition of potential stressors, (3) initial appraisal, (4) preliminary coping efforts, and (5) elicitation and use of feedback concerning initial efforts. The authors detail the role of individual differences skills, and resources at each stage. They highlight the unique predictions afforded by a focus on proactive coping and the importance of understanding how people avoid and offset potential stressors.

Drawing on cognitive adaptation theory, optimism, psychological control, and self-esteem were explored as longitudinal predictors of adjustment to college in a sample of 672 freshmen. Although a direct effect of optimism on adjustment was found, most of the predicted effects were mediated by coping methods. Controlling for initial positive and negative mood, the beneficial effects of optimism, control, and self-esteem on adjustment were mediated by the nonuse of avoidance coping, greater use of active coping, and greater seeking of social support. Alternative models of the causal relations among these variables did not fit the data as well as the a priori mediational model. The results of a 2-year follow-up indicated that self-esteem and control predicted greater motivation and higher grades, controlling for college entrance exam scores. Implications for cognitive adaptation theory and for interventions with populations under stress are discussed.

In a cohort of gay men responding to the threat of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), dispositional optimism was associated with less distress, less avoidant coping, positive attitudes as a coping strategy, and fewer AIDS-related concerns. Men who knew they were seropositive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) were significantly more optimistic about not developing AIDS than men who knew they were seronegative for HIV. This AIDS-specific optimism was related to higher perceived control over AIDS and to active coping among seropositive men only and to health behaviors in both serostatus groups. There was no relation of optimism to risk-related sexual behavior. It is concluded that optimism is psychologically adaptive without necessarily compromising health behavior. It is also concluded that it is useful to distinguish between event-based optimistic expectations and dispositional optimism.

Two studies explored the conditions under which social comparisons are used to manage negative affect and naturalistic threats. Study 1 examined induced mood and dispositional self-esteem as determinants of affective responses to upward and downward comparisons. Consistent with a mood repair prediction, only low-self-esteem Ss in whom a negative mood had been induced reported improved mood after exposure to downward comparison information. Study 2 examined the impact of naturalistic threats on responses to comparison information. Relative to a no-comparison baseline, low-self-esteem Ss who had experienced a recent academic setback reported more favorable self-evaluations and greater expectations of future success in college after exposure to downward comparison information. These results remained significant after controlling statistically for general distress. Implications for downward comparison theory are discussed.

We tested whether expert testimony concerning a biomechanism of psychopathy increases or decreases punishment. In a nationwide experiment, U.S. state trial judges (N = 181) read a hypothetical case (based on an actual case) where the convict was diagnosed with psychopathy. Evidence presented at sentencing in support of a biomechanical cause of the convict's psychopathy significantly reduced the extent to which psychopathy was rated as aggravating and significantly reduced sentencing (from 13.93 years to 12.83 years). Content analysis of judges' reasoning indicated that even though the majority of judges listed aggravating factors (86.7%), the biomechanical evidence increased the proportion of judges listing mitigating factors (from 29.7 to 47.8%). Our results contribute to the literature on how biological explanations of behavior figure into theories of culpability and punishment.

Research has yielded conflicting views of the adaptiveness of optimistic beliefs in confronting negative events and information. To test whether optimism functions like denial, the authors examined the prospective relation of optimistic beliefs to attention to threatening health information presented by computer in a college student sample (N= 57). Optimistic beliefs about one's health predicted greater attention to risk information than to neutral or benefit information and greater levels of recall overall, especially when the information was self-relevant. Results concerning attention to risk information were similar, but weaker, for dispositional optimism. Implications for theoretical treatments of optimistic beliefs are discussed.

The growth of the "positive psychology" movement reflects increased scientific and lay interest in the relation of positive phenomena to mental and physical health and the corresponding potential for interventions that promote positive feelings, thoughts, and experiences to improve health and well-being. In this article, we (1) consider research on optimism, sense of coherence, and posttraumatic growth that predates the contemporary emphasis on positive psychology, but has clear and increasingly well-supported connections to health psychology, (2) examine several potential mechanisms through which such positive phenomena may influence the etiology, progression, and management of illness, (3) identify four pervasive but misleading assumptions about positive phenomena that may limit both scientific research and practical application, and (4) caution against serious pitfalls of popular views of positive thinking, such as its promotion as a cure for cancer and other diseases. We conclude with recommendations for the balanced scientific investigation and application of positive phenomena.

In recent years, basic research and theory on social comparison activities has been applied to understanding the coping processes of people undergoing stressful events. These investigations have both elucidated coping and highlighted issues that need reconsideration in traditional social comparison frameworks. These issues include the predominant motives that guide social comparison activity; the role of cognitive processes in the creation of targets and the selection of dimensions for evaluation; the limits imposed on available social comparison information by stressful or victimizing circumstances; the role of similarity in social comparisons under threat; the inherent meaning of upward and downward comparisons; and the divergence of evaluative versus information-seeking comparative activities. Implications for theoretical integration and for understanding coping and social support are discussed.