Abstract
Optimism is the world view of individuals that view the world as a good place and involves the world with a lot of positive attitude. It also entails one’s feeling of the activities that involve him or her as being positive in nature and also all situations that involve the individual. It is broadly defined as the philosophical opposite of pessimism. Many people who are optimistic believe that the events and people they are involved with are generally good and that every situation will end up for the best eventually (Kamen-Siegel, 1991).
There are two types of optimism and these are dispositional optimism and situational optimism. Dispositional optimism is the psychological positive attitude that all outcomes will favor a situation or an individual while situational optimism refers to an individual’s expectations that a particular situation will end up being positive and favoring the individual. Studies have shown that optimism has an adverse effect on the health of the people both physically and psychologically. One important fact to consider is that dispositional optimism is the most influential in matters of health. This study will look into the factors that make optimism very influential on the health status of individuals both in both physical and psychological health (Carver, 1989).
Optimism effects on health
According to a medical research conducted on young patients who had a recurrent cancer, the patients who were optimistic tended to have a higher mortality rates than their counterparts who were pessimistic. In a study also conducted on CABG patients, the results indicated that a significant percentage of the optimistic patients were less likely to develop new Q-waves on their electrocardiograms after the surgery and they were also less likely to have significant enzyme release clinically. Surgery is also another area where pessimistic patients have shown that they are not likely to recover from than optimistic patients (Kamen-Siegel, 1991).
Optimism has played a very important role in recovery from physical conditions and also assuming some of the very beneficial behaviors which precipitate recovery in patients. These behaviors include patients sitting up in bed and also walking which is very helpful for the recovery of a patient. Pessimistic patients do not indulge in these activities and this can be attributed to the fact that they do not trust that they are fit enough to be engaging in such activities. As a result recovery takes a long time and hence they end up taking a lot of time in recovering. On the other hand optimistic patients are fully engaged in these activities sometimes even before they are given a go ahead by the physicians. This is very beneficial because psychologically the patient does not feel like he or she is suffering from any illnesses and hence it plays a very important role in the recovery of the patients. Apart from that the patients who are optimistic resume their normal day to day activities earlier than the pessimistic patients and this is also very important for the full recovery of the patients (Kamen-Siegel, 1991).
Optimism also plays a very important in evading some of the physical conditions and this has been evidenced by the fact that two studies which were conducted on college students showed that optimistic students did not have as many illnesses as pessimistic students did. This was also conducted on the grown up and the same result were found. This means that many of the optimistic people have fewer instances of illnesses than the pessimistic people. This means that in many people who visit hospitals for various cases are more likely to be pessimists while those people who do not frequent hospitals are optimistic people (Carver, 1989).
The same case applies for the psychological health and studies have shown that patients who suffer from psychological problems are mainly pessimists. This is because such psychological ailments do not affect optimistic people easily and this means that the people who are optimistic are psychologically secure. Security plays a very important role in the prevention of psychological disorders and it has been noted that security from being optimistic is very helpful in evading such problems. Optimistic people do not have such problems as fear of the future or the activities as they are view that everything will be okay and these acts as a psychological booster for the wellness of the person. This is also important in facing some of the life’s problems which result in psychological problems and this means that the people who are optimistic have a positive outlook of life and this ensures that they cannot suffer psychological illnesses (Kamen-Siegel, 1991).
On the other hand the pessimists have a more danger of suffering psychological problems because of their negativity in their view of life. Pessimists may suffer from such psychological problems because they do not have the confidence to face up to the life’s challenges and this means that they may suffer from such psychological problems as lack of self confidence. Low self confidence is very dangerous because it may reduce someone to a person who cannot trust himself or herself in anything. Another problem that is associated with pessimism is the low self esteem which is also very damaging to a person’s personality. This means that people who suffer from low self esteem are pessimistic people whereas those people who do not suffer from this psychological problem are mainly the optimistic people (Kamen-Siegel, 1991).
However, not all studies have been in favor of optimism in health. This can be noted by the fact that a study conducted on expectant mothers has showed that many complications were reported on the optimistic expectant mothers. Optimists also show signs of decreased immune-competence when they are faced with a stressing situation (Carver, 1989).
References
Carver, C. S., Scheier, M. F., & Weintraub, J. K. (1989). Assessing coping strategies: A theoretically based approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56, 267-283.
Kamen-Siegel, L., Rodin, J., Seligman, M. E. P., & Dwyer, J. (1991). Explanatory style and cell-mediated immunity in elderly men and women. Health Psychology, 10, 229-235.