CanOptimismHelpUsReachOurGoals？KEYPOINTSOptimismbiasdescribesatendencytooverestimatetheoccurrenceofpositiveeventsandoutes.Thebiascanmotivateustoworkhardertowardreachinggoals,andevenimproveourhealth.Whilemoderatelevelsofoptimismarebeneficial,extremeoptimismmayleadtorecklessrisktaking.Areyouaglasshalffullkindofperson,someonewhoviewstheworldthroughrosetintedglasses?Doyoubelievethereislightattheendofthetunnelandthateverycloudhasasilverlining?Everydaylanguageisfullofreferencestothepsychologicalphenomenonofoptimism.Itdescribesahopefuloutlookonlifeandageneralbeliefthatgoodthingsaregoingtohappen.Indeed,manypeopleareaffectedbyasocalledoptimismbias.Thisbiasdescribesatendencytoviewpositivelifeeventsasmorelikelythanwhatcouldbeexpectedbasedonstatisticsandrationalthinking.(Forexample,I’mcurrentlytryingtomanagemydaughter’soptimisticbeliefthatherbirthday—andtheassociatedgifts,cake,andparty—isgoingtoearoundeverycoupleofweeksratherthanjustonceayear.)TheEvolutionofOptimismLikeallotherbiases,optimismbiascanaffectpeople’sjudgmentsandsubsequentchoices.Apositivebeliefinyourchancesofanofficeromancemaytemptyouintoopenlyflirtingwithacolleague.AnoptimisticexpectationaboutthetrickinessofforeignlanguagesmayleadyoutoenrollinRussianclasses.Andahopefulwishforyetanotherbirthdaymayinspireyou(orrathermydreamerofa3yearold)towearabirthdaybadgeonrandomdaysoftheyear.Ifoptimismbiashasthepowertoleadusastrayfromrationalchoices,whyisitsoprevalent?Thereisasimpleexplanation:Itservesanevolutionarypurpose.Similartorelatedbiasessuchasoverconfidenceandsurvivorshipbias,optimismbiascanserveasanimportantsourceofmotivation.Itshinesalightonopportunitieswhileconcealingthepossibilityofhurdles,problems,andfailurealongtheway.Thisway,optimismbiasmayhelpusworktowardbiggoalsthatmightotherwiseseemtoodauntingtoevenconsider.Indeed,psychologystudieshavedemonstratedmeasurablebenefitsofoptimism,forexampleintheareasofhealthandwellbeing.Researchonthequalityoflifeincancerpatientsfoundthatpeoplewithhigherlevelsofoptimismenjoyedmorefortandhappinessinthefaceoftheirillness.Furthermore,aliteraturereviewonthetopicofoptimismandhealthsuggestedthatoptimistsgenerallyhavebetterphysicalhealththanindividualswithpessimisticattitudes.Thesurprisinghealthbenefitsofoptimismmaybeattributedtoabinationofdifferentreasons.Firstly,optimisticpeoplearelikelymoremotivatedtoengageinpositivehealthbehaviourssuchasexerciseandhealthyeating,therebycontributingtobetteroverallhealthandareductionofriskfactorsformanyseriousillnesses.Additionally,optimistsarelikelytoworrylessaboutthefuture.Thiscouldlowertheirstresslevelsandpromotehigherlevelsofwellbeing.Overall,itwouldappearthatanoptimisticoutlookonlifehasmanyadvantages,keepingyouhealthyandhappyforlonger.IsOptimismGoodforUs?Thestudiesreviewedaboveseemtosuggestthatoptimisticattitudescanmotivateuswhileboostingourhealthandwellbeing.Butisalloptimismadvantageous?Researchtackledthisquestionbytestingtherelativebenefitsofdifferentlevelsofoptimism,forexampleintheareaoffinancialdecisionmaking.Aquestionnaireinvestigationofeconomicchoicesfoundthatmoderateoptimistsmadebetterinvestmentchoicesthanextremeoptimistsandweremorelikelytosavemoneyforthefuture.Thisledtheauthorstoconcludethat“optimismisabitlikeredwine:toomuchisclearlybad,butalittleeachdaycanbegoodforone'shealth.”Itappearsthatextremelevelsofoptimismcanleadtorecklessrisktakingoradangerousneglectoffutureconsequences.Extremeoptimismmayalsomisleadusintowastingtimeandenergyonendeavoursthataredoomedfromthestart,withresearchsuggestingthatindividualswithveryhighlevelsofoptimismmayovermittoprojectswithquestionablechancesofsuccess.AreYouanOptimist?Aperson’slevelofoptimismmaydeterminewhethertheyaremotivatedtooverechallengesornaivelypursuedreamsthatwillneveretrue.Whilemoderateoptimismcanpushyoutobeyourbest,extremelevelsmightpushyouovertheedgeandtemptyouintotakingdangerousrisks.Knowingwhereyoufallonthespectrumofoptimismisthereforeagoodidea.Scientistshavedevelopeddifferentquestionnairesformeasuringoptimism,withakeyinstrumentbeingthesocalledLifeOrientationTest.Answeringjust10simplequestionscangiveyouanideaofjusthowrosyyourrosetintedglassesmightbe.Andifyoudon’tliketheresult,there’snoneedtoworry.Optimismcanbelearnedandpractised—forexample,throughpositiveselftalkandexercisesthatchallengepessimisticthoughts.Tellingyourselfthatyouarestrongandcapablemaybethefirststeptoreachinganewgoalthisyear.Exercise1：英譯漢翻譯練習OptimismoverestimatetheoccurrenceofpositiveeventsandoutesbiasmotivateustoworkharderextremeoptimismpsychologicalphenomenonEvolutionoverconfidencedemonstratemeasurablebenefitsoverallhealthadvantageousmisleadspectrumcapablereachinganewgoalExercise2：漢譯英翻譯練習樂觀主義高估了積極事件和結果的發生偏差激勵我們更加努力地工作極端樂觀心理現象演化過分相信證明可衡量的收益整體健康狀況有利