Dispositional Optimism
Dispositional Optimism ; The reason it’s important to understand our attributions for past outcomes and our perceptions of control in present situations is that both have implications for our outlook on the future. In Learned Optimism, Seligman (1991) argued that a generalized tendency to expect positive outcomes is characterized by a non- depressive explanatory style. According to Seligman, optimists tend
to blame failure on factors that are external, temporary, and specific and to credit success to factors that are internal, permanent, and global.
Research shows that although dispositional optimism is partly inherited, it is also powerfully shaped by personal experiences, social influences, and the course of development over the life span. Tracking nearly 10,000 adults over four years, for example, researchers found that optimism progressively increased from the age of 50 to 70, then declined. Given our capacity for change and in light of the advantages that optimism brings, Suzanne Segerstrom (2006a), like Seligman, thus notes that even pessimists can retrain themselves to think in optimistic ways.
