When life gives you lemons make lemonade: cross-sectional age and gender differences in optimism

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to test the cognitive construct of optimism (positive future outcome expectancies) and the age-gender differences in Indian sample. Design/methodology/approach The sample consists of 363 older, middle-aged and younger male and female employees. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey based research design. Findings Results revealed that middle-aged employees have high levels of optimism as compared to the old age and younger employees. Further, the males reflected high optimism levels in comparison to female employees in middle and old aged adult employees, whereas females have higher optimism level in younger age in Indian select organisations. Research limitations/implications The study suggests that the continuous changes in the lifespan lead to changes in one’s attitude and hence results in behavioural changes. The research indicates that optimism should be cultivated in the individuals by providing training and development to promote the competence and skill-building events which would help in enhancing the productivity resulting in better understanding of the scenario at workplace. Originality/value The work supplements the existing literature on positive attitude or outcome expectancies by adding to the lifespan development theory.

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“…To date, research has mainly focused on optimism, despite the fact that future orientation represents a wider construct (Hirsch et al, 2006). Overall, these studies have found that men are more optimistic than women (Bharti & Rangnekar, 2019;Jacobsen et al, 2014;Puskar et al, 2010). It is also worthy of note that younger individuals show higher levels of fear of COVID-19 (Quadros et al, 2021).…”

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“…Despite the increasing interest in the intersections between positive attitudes, values, and the psychological and health literature, workplace outcomes in terms of sustainability and performance have not been explored and remain very limited [61]. Numerous researchers have investigated the role of optimism as a mediating variable in creative performance [62,63], work-life balance [64], subjective wellbeing [65,66], stress, interpersonal relationship [67], career [68], depression [69], demographics [70], and others. However, the relationship between optimism and workplace sustainability and performance remains underexplored.…”

Exploring the psychometric properties of personal optimism and self-efficacy optimism-extended (POSO-E) scale among Indian teachers

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“…With roots in positive psychology (Schwabsky, 2014), optimism is commonly defined as looking on the bright side of life, retaining hope and expecting the best in the face of challenges (Schueller and Seligman, 2008). As a measure of enthusiasm and confidence (Bharti and Rangnekar, 2019a), it has been observed as an affective, cognitive and motivational construct (Peterson, 2002) that contributes to an individual's psychological capital (Luthans et al. , 2007).…”

“…There are numerous references in ancient Indian scriptures that endorse the importance of optimism. The early Vedic philosophies encourage individuals to negate pessimism and believe in the concept of celebrating life through a sense of hope and optimism (Bharti and Rangnekar, 2019a). The Bhagavad Gita , a revered text in India, acquaints the readers with profound ideas that can prepare them to face reality with joy and optimism.…”