optimism

Also known as optimistic

thumb|right|Is the glass half empty or half full?|Half a glass of water, illustration of two different mental attitudes, optimism (half full) and [[pessimism (half empty)]]

AI overview

Optimism is the tendency to expect positive outcomes and to see situations in a favorable light, often illustrated by viewing a glass as "half full" rather than "half empty." It matters because how optimistic or pessimistic people are can shape their attitudes, decisions, and overall outlook on life.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Research

14,427 papers

Urban optimism.Nature ecology & evolution · 2019DOI: 10.1038/s41559-019-0843-0
Is Optimism a Protective Factor for Cardiovascular Disease?ReviewCurrent cardiology reports · 2021Amonoo HL, Celano CM, Sadlonova M et al.DOI: 10.1007/s11886-021-01590-4
Optimism, pessimism, and physical health among youth: a scoping review.Journal of pediatric psychology · 2024Fairbank EJ, Borenstein-Laurie J, Alberts NM et al.DOI: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsae045
Optimism and the Experience of Pain: A Systematic Review.Behavioral medicine (Washington, D.C.) · 2019Basten-Günther J, Peters M, Lautenbacher SDOI: 10.1080/08964289.2018.1517242
Hope, Optimism, and Clinical Pain: A Meta-Analysis.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2021Shanahan ML, Fischer IC, Hirsh AT et al.DOI: 10.1093/abm/kaab001
Optimism and pessimism: a concept for behavioural ecology.ReviewBiological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2025Siewert V, Kaiser S, Sachser N et al.DOI: 10.1111/brv.13178
Optimism during pregnancy and obstetrical outcomes: A systematic review.European journal of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology · 2020Giangiordano I, Sahani H, Di Mascio D et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.ejogrb.2020.03.029
What is unrealistic optimism?ReviewConsciousness and cognition · 2017Jefferson A, Bortolotti L, Kuzmanovic BDOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2016.10.005

via PubMed

Wikidata facts

Image: BerlinWallMonumentWestView.jpg

Show 1 more fact

Commons category: Optimism

Sources (3)

via Wikidata · CC0

~19 min read

Article

15 sections

Contents

Psychological optimism
Dispositional optimism
Explanatory style
Origins
Assessment
Life Orientation Test
Attributional Style Questionnaire
Associations with health
Optimism and well-being
Translating association into modifiability
Philosophical optimism
Optimalism
See also
References
Further reading

thumb|right|Is the glass half empty or half full?|Half a glass of water, illustration of two different mental attitudes, optimism (half full) and [[pessimism (half empty)]]

Optimism is the attitude or mindset of expecting events to lead to particularly positive, favorable, desirable, and hopeful outcomes. A common idiom used to illustrate optimism versus pessimism is a glass filled with water to the halfway point: an optimist is said to see the glass as half full, while a pessimist sees the glass as half empty. In ordinary English, optimism may be synonymous with idealism—often, unrealistic or foolish optimism in particular.