Science & Technology

Do we always look on the bright side of life?

By T.K. Randall
August 17, 2016 ·  40 comments

Are we hard-wired to be optimistic about the future ? Image Credit: sxc.hu For a long time scientists have been under the impression that we possess a natural tendency to expect positive things to happen to us in the future and to play down the possibility of negative outcomes - a psychological trait commonly referred to as 'irrational optimism bias.'

Now though, researchers at University College London have put the dampeners on this idea by suggesting that optimism bias may not actually be a part of our psychology after all.

"Previous studies, which have used flawed methodologies to claim that people are optimistic across all situations and that this bias is 'normal', are now in serious doubt," said Dr Adam Harris."We need to look for new ways of studying optimism bias to establish whether it is a universal feature of human cognition or not."

Optimism bias has long been a factor in how governments and policy makers tackle important social and political issues such as climate change, unemployment and the recent financial crisis.

"This assumption that people are optimistically biased is being used to guide large infrastructure projects, with the aim of managing expectations around how much projects will cost and how long they will take to complete," said Dr Harris.

"Our research supports a re-examination of optimism bias before allowing it to guide clinical research and policy."

Source: Herald Scotland | Comments (40)

Tags: Optimism