Optimism across cultures: In response to the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak

Abstract

Based on our early research, we predicted that the Chinese may be more optimistic and less pessimistic than North Americans in response to negative life events. A survey was conducted to investigate optimism cross culturally in the context of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreaks in Canada and China. Chinese students in Beijing and European Canadians in Toronto answered questions about their perceptions of SARS. No significant cultural difference was found on dispositional optimism, as measured by the Revised Life Orientation Test (LOT‐R). Unrealistic optimism was measured in the context of SARS. Both groups demonstrated unrealistic optimism (i.e. reporting that the self was less likely than an average person to get infected with SARS). Such optimistic bias was stronger among Chinese than among Canadians. Compared to the actual infection rates in Beijing and Toronto, both Chinese and Canadian participants overestimated their own chances of getting infected, indicating that they were being pessimistic. Indeed, Chinese were less pessimistic than Canadians. In addition, even though the Chinese reported more inconvenience brought by SARS than did Canadians, they also reported more positive changes brought by SARS, reflecting the Chinese dialectical views of events. Implications for research on optimism in context are discussed.

Dispositional Optimism, Affective States and Judgements of Future Life Events

“…These findings confirm the previous results found on adult samples, showing that optimistic individuals were more likely to expect more positive events to happen to them in the future (e.g., Blackwell et al, 2013;Sharot et al, 2007). In line with the studies reported on adult samples (e.g., Ji et al, 2004;Radcliffe & Klein, 2002), dispositional optimism did not significantly correlate with the likelihood of judgements of future events. All these findings suggest that, although a high level of optimism increases the beliefs that future positive events are more likely to happen in the future, it did not implicitly generate the beliefs that negative events are less likely to occur in the future.…”

“…Studies conducted on adult samples showed that the optimists display more positive life evaluations than pessimists and were less likely to expect negative events in the future, such as unsafe work practices, overweight or dental health problems (e.g., Fowler & Geers, 2015;Gherasim et al, 2016;OginskaBulik & Juczynski, 2001). Other studies found no association between dispositional optimism and judgements of negative events, such as perceiving the risk of heart attack, obesity or severe acute respiratory syndrome on samples of adults (e.g., Geers et al, 2013;Radcliffe & Klein, 2002) and undergraduate students (e.g., Ji, Zhang, Usborne, & Guan, 2004). Moreover, previous literature consistently showed that adults with a high level of dispositional optimism were more likely to expect more positive events to happen to them in the future (e.g., Blackwell et al, 2013;Sharot, Riccardi, Raio, & Phelps, 2007).…”

“…The 6-item questionnaire of The Life Orientation Test -Revised (LOT-R; Scheier, Carver, & Bridges, 1994) was used to measure the adolescents' optimism level. In this study we used only the key items (three worded positively and three worded negatively), but not the filler items from the original scale (similarly to Ji et al, 2004). The items were rated on a 5-point Likert scale, from 0 = strongly disagree to 4 = strongly agree.…”

Bienestar psicológico, optimismo y resiliencia en mujeres con cáncer de mama

“…Esta definición implica que, tanto el optimismo como el pesimismo, son rasgos relativamente estables, consistentes a través del tiempo y las situaciones. Por tal motivo, Scheier y Carver (20) hacen referencia al optimismo disposicional para referirse a una creencia o expectativa generalizada, que se mantiene estable en el tiempo, de que ocurrirán sucesos positivos (21) . Son diversos los estudios que han corroborado la relevancia y utilidad del constructo optimismo, ya que permite predecir variables y estados de considerable importancia en Psicología Clínica (17,22) .…”

Why best cannot last: Cultural differences in predicting regression toward the mean

“…That is, lowering bad cholesterol in the high condition and increasing good cholesterol in the low condition are both desirable, and Chinese participants might have predicted more change than Canadians because they are more optimistic and hopeful in such a context (see Ji, Zhang, Usborne & Guan, 2004). …”