Explanatory Styles

What Do We Mean by Optimism?

When looking at the research into optimism and pessimism within positive psychology it is important to know what exactly it is referring to. Within the literature optimism has been thought about in two main ways, as either ‘optimistic explanatory styles’ or ‘dispositional optimism’ . Dispositional optimism relates to an inherent personality characteristic of optimism such that the individual has positive expectations for the future regardless of the context within which it will arise. However, for the purposes of this course we are focusing on optimism and pessimism as explanatory styles.

Our explanatory style influences several aspects of our thoughts, feelings and behaviour. These include:

• How we perceive ourselves.
• How we perceive our environment.
• How we process incoming information.
• How we decide to act on it.

As a result, having an optimistic or pessimistic explanatory style is important when considering how people deal with the stressful events in their lives. The diagrams below show the difference between an optimistic and pessimistic explanatory style.

Optimistic Explanatory Style

Unpleasant situations are seen as temporary and specific, a one- off occurrence that is the result of a particular event in its context.

Unpleasant situations are seen in a constructive not catastrophic way. They are not the norm and may be learned from.

Individuals feel confident to confront the situation, trusting in themselves that they can overcome it.

Pessimistic Explanatory Style

Unpleasant situations are the norm and the consequences can be extended to a global scale. They seem catastrophic.

Pleasant situations don’t last. They are the exception and when they happen they are seen as limited to the context in which they arose.

Individuals feel that unpleasant situations are a result of personal short comings. This may lead to self blame.