Manal Hadi Kanaan

Dear Professor,

Thank you for the interesting topic of discussion.

Sometimes our dreams/ thoughts are positive and too far away from reality. They are so far away from reality that their roots do not even tangentially touch reality. They have the power to get detached from all the negativeness of reality. This is called 'unrealistic optimism'.

It does affect our future.

'Unrealistic optimism' many a times do not have any relation with reality. It is based on imagination and hope and sometimes on fancies and whims. So many a times, they appear to be baseless. They appear to be unscientific. That is why, the person with unrealistic optimism is quite often considered a fool. That person is thought to be a mere dreamer.That may affect that person, her/ his confidence, ability to stick to unrealistic optimism and mental stability. It is a challenge for that person to stick to his beliefs and carry on chasing that unrealistic optimism that defines her/ him.

Best regards,

Anamitra Roy.

Dear Dr. Anamitra Roy Thank you very much for your participation, Doctor...I really agree with your point of view, in that some of this biased or unrealistic optimism may lead to disastrous results when a person sees himself as better than others and that he will inevitably succeed, here he certainly will not work seriously to achieve that. ..And it may be related to not preparing for negative circumstances and crises that he may be exposed to, which may expose him to loss... In fact, this phenomenon exists all over the world and in different cultures... Here we have clarified the negative consequences of it... But is it possible to have a positive impact on our decision-making and our future? My sincere gratitude, Doctor.

Dear Dr. Terri Purvis

I think it is beneficial, especially from a health point of view

Dear Dr. ميسم شهاب Thank you very much for your participation, Doctor...Indeed, I hope that it has useful aspects as well...Really I hope that...My sincere gratitude, Doctor.

According to the Oxford Reference, "Unrealistic Optimism" is "a judgmental bias that tends to affect people's subjective estimates of the likelihood of future events in their lives, causing them to overestimate the likelihood of positive or desirable events and to underestimate the likelihood of negative or undesirable events. … It was studied rigorously and named by the US psychologist Neil D. Weinstein in an article in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Weinstein asked students to estimate the relative likelihoods of various events happening to them, compared to the likelihoods of the same events happening to their peers, and his results showed that they rated their chances of experiencing positive events, such as owning your own home, receiving a good job offer before graduation, and living past 80, to be significantly above the average for students of the same sex at the same university, and their chances of experiencing negative events, such as having a heart attack before age 40, being sued by someone, and being the victim of a mugging, to be significantly below average."

In the words of Richard H. Thaler, an American Economist, unrealistic optimism "is a pervasive feature of human life; it characterizes most people in most social categories. When they overestimate their personal immunity from harm, people may fail to take sensible preventive steps. If people are running risks because of unrealistic optimism, they might be able to benefit from a nudge. In fact, we have already mentioned one possibility: if people are reminded of a bad event, they may not continue to be so optimistic."

Please see:

https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803114811272

Dear Dr. Ahmed T. Hussein Thank you very much for your participation, Doctor...Indeed, I agree that unrealistic optimism may make a person less careful in dealing with bad events in the future...Optimism in itself gives us positive energy to continue life, to challenge problems, and achieve success, but it should not be excessive so that we expect success and achieving goals without striving for it... We are grateful for sharing this useful and valuable information and link... My sincere gratitude Doctor.

Well

Allow me to disagree

No optimism is too big in this dark gloomy world

Best regards

Dear Dr. Wassan Nori Thank you very much for your participation, Doctor...In fact, sometimes I feel that too, and I feel that life is dark and I lose my desire to resist... But soon I remember that God is with us wherever we are and that he remains with us after everything is gone... When the night comes and I feel the silence of beings, and when I go to sleep, I pray for him and I am not ashamed to cry, because he is more merciful to us than everyone, even our mothers... It gives me great positive energy to continue and to resist... I hope you are always fine... My sincere gratitude, Doctor.

Dear dr

Thank you for your kind words and honsty

We are all beeing testing to the extreme of our faith

May merciful god have mercy on us all

Best regards

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Manal-Kanaan-2

Thanks a lot, Dear Dr. Wassan Nori really thanks...My sincere gratitude and appreciation Doctor.

Unrealistic optimism about risk is often viewed as but one aspect of a more general self-enhancement bias that also encom-

passes phenomena such as the planning fallacy (e.g., Buehler & Griffin, 2003; Buehler, Griffin, & MacDonald, 1997; Buehler, Griffin, & Ross, 1994; Kahneman & Tversky, 1979), the illusion of control (e.g., Langer, 1975; Langer & Roth, 1975), people’s tendency to overestimate their own skill relative to others (the so-called better-than-average effect; e.g., Svenson, 1981), and findings of over- confidence in judgment (e.g., Kahneman & Tver-sky, 1973). Though we return briefly to critiques of this wider set of phenomena in our Conclusions section, the immediate focus of this article is on how one might know that people’s judgments ofthe likelihood of experiencing certain future events are genuinely unrealistically optimistic. The term unrealistic optimism will hence be used to refer specifically to judgments about risk for future life events.

The attached paper is focussing on this area so this could be referred.

Dear @Manal Hadi Kanaan To me, an optimism without any logical basis is called 'unrealistic' optimism. It is just like a "wish". Persons holding such an optimism will fall prey to illusion.

Dear @Manal Hadi Kanaan

Details of consequences of unrealistic optimism may be accessed at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4467896/#:~:text=Go%20to%3A-,What%20Are%20the%20Consequences%20of%20Unrealistic%20Optimism%3F,can%20lead%20to%20misplaced%20hope.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305749361_Assessing_the_consequences_of_unrealistic_optimism_Challenges_and_recommendations

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311423457_Unrealistic_optimism_-_Its_nature_causes_and_effects

Best regards, AKC

Manal Hadi Kanaan

Dear Professor,

Thank you for the question.

Let me share a personal experience of my life. One of my uncles, staying in the northern part of the city of Kolkata in India, was in a financial fix for a span of almost 20/ 25 years of his life. He tried his best to come out of it but failed to do so. During this phase, I saw him as a child and also as a teen age boy that he was unrealistically optimistic. That sort of, kept him motivated during those difficult times. He earned the energy to keep going. He gathered the positiveness to carry on taking crucial decisions in his life, some of which ultimately helped him to move ahead in life and come out of that complicated situation.

So, I started believing that apart from the disadvantages, unrealistic optimism also has an advantageous side. But it depends on that individual and the gravity of the circumstances, to decide whether that person would be able to derive the advantages of unrealistic optimism.

Best regards,

Anamitra.

Dear Dr. Sudhir Kumar Singh Yadav Phd Thank you very much for your participation, Doctor...Yes, I agree with that, but we still did not give the other side of the issue... We still focus on the negative effects... And we did not try to look for positive effects on it... Do we think that the great scientists who changed the history of humanity with their discoveries were pessimistic??? Certainly not, and in their time they were called crazy and unrealistic... We are very grateful for sharing this useful and valuable information and link with us... My sincere gratitude, Doctor.

Dear Dr. Arbind K. Choudhary Thank you very much for your participation, Doctor...Yes, it may be if a person does not work hard to reach his goals...For example (I am optimistic that I will succeed, or get a prestigious job, or publish research in a reputable magazine, or...), without working hard, I will certainly be prey to an illusion...But why? Don't we make this optimism a positive motivation to work hard and reach what we wish for? We are very grateful for sharing these very valuable and useful links...My sincere gratitude, Doctor.

Dear Dr. Anamitra Roy Thank you very much for your participation, Doctor...Yes, that's exactly what I'm trying to get at...You put your hand exactly on the essential point of benefiting from being optimistic even in the harshest of circumstances, and indeed when a person can harness the harshest conditions to be a motive for him to resist and not give up, here he deserves the gift of God to him when he gave him life...We are so grateful for sharing these events with us...My sincere gratitude to Doctor.

I agree with the previously mentioned opinions from colleagues, that unrealistic optimism may expose a person to many losses. It can have positive effects when we make it a motivator for us to resist and move forward in life. In a recent study conducted to find out the impact of this type of optimism on people’s commitment to health instructions and guidelines in our time and under the conditions of the pandemic, it was found that such people may put their lives and the lives of others at risk by not adhering to the instructions for social distancing and wearing masks and sterilization because they feel they are immune to infection better than others. Kindly check the following link:

https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/9/5/1464/htm

The unrealistic optimism about bad events may be different between cultures and peoples, and the percentages of this optimism may be related to the environment and different cultures. Kindly check the following link:

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00006/full

This study concluded that broadening the field of inquiry to other Asian societies underlines the complexity of the relationship of self-enhancement and self-effacement to comparative optimism.

Optimism bias is common and transcends gender, ethnicity, nationality, and age. Optimistic biases are even reported in non-human animals such as rats and birds. Four factors can cause a person to be optimistically biased: their desired end state, their cognitive mechanisms, the information they have about themselves versus others, and overall mood.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimism_bias

Dear Dr. Sura Saad Thank you very much for your participation, Doctor...Indeed, I completely agree with you that, when a person thinks that he can be immuned against diseases, this will not only endanger him, but will also endanger others who surround him, and this may greatly help in the continued increase the spread of diseases... In fact, diseases are among the most dangerous and worst things that we should not neglect because those pathogens have their own intelligence that enables them to constantly develop themselves not only to resist the interventions that humans use against them but also to mimic the human immune system and hide from it. ..So we should never underestimate them...We are very grateful for sharing this very useful and valuable information and links...My sincere gratitude Sura.

Impressive query that provoked various agreeable informative comments and creates valuable discussions

Dear Dr. Lamia Mustafa Al-Naama Thank you very much for your participation, Doctor...We are grateful for your participation in this discussion...Your participation is greatly appreciated...My sincere gratitude to Doctor.

The definition of "unrealistic optimism": Quick Reference a judgemental bias that tends to affect people's subjective estimates of the likelihood of future events in their lives, causing them to overestimate the likelihood of positive or desirable events and to underestimate the likelihood of negative or undesirable events.

ref: Google, unrealistic optimism definition

The last section of the question is about the effect of this kind of optimism on the future:

It depends on the characteristics and capabilities of the individual and the environmental conditions and the extent to which the environment supports him/her. If a person's optimism is so unrealistic that it resembles a delusion, it may also have a negative effect on him/her; But if the person has high potential and his environment is supportive, this optimism can be useful for his/her future (we must consider that whether the optimism is real or not can be different for the optimistic person and others).

see also: What is unrealistic optimism? - ScienceDirect

Dear Dr. Davoud Ezzati Thank you very much for your participation, Doctor...Indeed, I totally agree with that, especially in that no matter how optimistic a person may be, he should not consider himself different from others... Indeed, the circumstances surrounding the person have a great influence on what he wishes for becomes a reality... We are very grateful for sharing this useful and valuable information and resources with us... My sincere gratitude, Doctor.

Dear Dr. Manal Hadi Kanaan , Thank you for this interesting Question.

Yes. You have clearly mentioned about the individual bias in how we approach a situation or a problem.

But, there are two possibilities; Unrealistic optimism and pessimism.

Example: 1

After seeing WW1 and WW2, the people around the world were expecting an immediate WW3.

Example:2

After experiencing COVID-19 wave1 and the current wave2, many are predicting wave3, wave 4....some up to wave10.

In your example, you have mentioned how everybody is optimistic about health

etc....

In all the above cases, I see the extrapolation of events, in either direction, may be optimistic and pessimistic.

So, my argument is that people will not only be optimistic but also, will be pessimistic - the determinant is their immediate past events.

Answer to the Second part of the Question.

Yes it will affect the future of individual.

Third Question: How it can happen?

Individual will take extreme measures, either too optimistically or too pessimistically - which is not warranted, harmful or destroys the life of that individual.

Example: An individual buying lottery tickets (very optimistically) for huge sums of money.

Source: https://www.onmanorama.com/news/india/2019/12/14/tamil-family-s-murder-suicide-exposes-perils-of-lottery-addictio.html

Report: Man who ended life fearing COVID-19 tests negative

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Kochi/man-who-ended-life-fearing-covid-19-tests-negative/article31274013.ece

Thanks for this wonderful opportunity.

Best wishes and regards

Yoganandan

Dear Dr. Yoganandan G Thank you very much for your participation, Doctor...

Indeed, I completely agree with this accurate analysis and the wonderful answer... In fact, we must admit that both types exist. The people of pessimism and unrealistic optimism do exist... And as you mentioned, their expectations may be based on the events that surround them or that occurred previously, but certainly, whether in the case of optimism or pessimism, when it is excessive and unrealistic, it will certainly have negative and possibly destructive effects on the individual and this may be reflected on society... We are very grateful for sharing this valuable and useful information and resources with us...My sincere gratitude, Doctor.

Dear Dr. Esteban Rodríguez Torres

Dear Manal

Unrealistic optimism is psychological case depends on inputs. Certain inputs could be psychological, environmental, social economical religious. However this case is better than pessism.

You know our islamic tradition had a wisedom that we like optimism and hate pessism.

Dear Dr. Ali F Almehemdi Thank you very much for your participation, Doctor...Indeed, I agree with you on that, our Islamic religion always urges us to be optimistic because it is associated with our absolute trust in God to help us and achieve what science cannot explain, although the teachings of our religion recommend striving first and exerting effort to achieve our goals, it completely refuses to depend on the dreams and expects God to help us without pursuing those dreams...We are so grateful for sharing your opinion about this debate...My sincere gratitude, Doctor.

Manal Hadi Kanaan

https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803114811272

Dear Dr. Nirmala S.V.S.G Thank you very much for your participation, Doctor...We are so grateful for sharing this valuable and useful link with us...My sincere gratitude, Doctor.

People are considered unrealistically optimistic if they predict that a personal future outcome will be more favorable than that suggested by a relevant, objective standard. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4467896/

You are never too optimistic. People need as much optimism as possible to move forward. This optimism only needs to be linked to true realism.

It is sometimes claimed that positive illusions generally, and unrealistic optimism specifically, are systematic tendencies to form beliefs that are biased, and often false, but have significant benefits, because they increase wellbeing, contribute to mental and physical ... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5380125/

I think it is better to be optimistic always, even there challenges.

Dear Dr. Chinaza Godswill Awuchi Thank you very much for your participation, Doctor... In fact, optimism is essential in our lives because it gives us positive energy to resist, but it must be reasonable and be accompanied by an effort to be beneficial to us......We are very grateful for sharing this very useful and valuable information and links with us. My sincere gratitude, Doctor.

Dear Dr. Laura Bulgariu Thank you very much for your participation, Doctor...We are very grateful for sharing your opinion about this debate...My sincere gratitude, Doctor.

Dear Dr. Kiprotich Kiptum Thank you very much for your participation, Doctor...We are very grateful for sharing your opinion about this debate...Yes, I fully agree with you...My sincere gratitude, Doctor.

Dear Dr. Kanaan!

You spotted a crucial point. Unrealistic optimism is a result of people being mislead. In turn this is a result of social media full of disinformation and misinformation. Fake news and low quality science are to blamed:

1) Aboul-ata, M.A., Qonsua, F.T. The 5-factor model of psychological response to COVID-19: its correlation with anxiety and depression. Curr Psychol (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01701-y Free access: Article The 5-factor model of psychological response to COVID-19: it...

2) Ünal, Ö., Cesur-Atintaş, M., Kiremitçi-Canıöz, E. et al. The predictors of COVID-19 anxiety and helping behaviour during the pandemic: An investigation within the framework of individual and national level resources. Curr Psychol (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01749-w Free access: Article The predictors of COVID-19 anxiety and helping behaviour dur...

3) Jeffrey Gassen et al. (2021). Unrealistic Optimism and Risk for COVID-19 Disease, Front. Psychol., 04 June 2021, Free access: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.647461/full

4) A case-study: Kapoor, P.S. and Singhal, V. (2021), "Perceived vulnerability to COVID-19, dispositional optimism and intention to adopt preventive health behaviour: an experiment with anti-smoking advertising", Journal of Social Marketing, Vol. 11 No. 2, pp. 124-147. Available at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JSOCM-08-2020-0151/full/html

Yours sincerely, Bulcsu Szekely

Bulcsu Szekely makes good points about how people are often mislead by others by misinformation. However sometimes it may be good for you to mislead yourself to achieve your goals in life.

I suspect that I have accomplished many things due to unrealistic optimism. I mean that I reached goals by underestimating the time, effort, and difficulty of being successful in a goal. Such unrealistic optimism can provide positive benefits to us all if it allows us to start moving forward in the right direction toward our goals. This can be seen in a simple direct way in climbing a low mountain. Looking at the top with optimism, it may seem not so difficult. But as the day goes on one will start to realize how hard each part is and the top may look as far or farther than when I began. There can be a period when the climb seems endless and the top unreachable if optimism fails you. Yet at some point looking backward, one can appreciate how far one has already come by just moving upward bit by bit - this can give you the power to continue by strengthening your optimism with observed progress. At the top you may realize that it was far harder than expected, but you did it by going forward bit by bit without getting discouraged.

On the other hand there is nothing so easy that it will not become hard with a negative attitude. When facing goals that are hard and important it is key to have a positive attitude that may benefit from unrealistic optimism. It is of course also important to understand the challenges one may face. Yet, once you are committed to a worthwhile goal in life, I believe that you cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought - these sap your energy and reduce your ability to make things better. Likely we can do our best by considering and planning for negative events, focusing on optimistic thoughts and plans to achieve positive goals, and doing the next best thing we can to achieve our goal.

Negativity may block your progress or even cause you to go off the path and away from your goal. Optimism is enabling if it allows you to keep going forward in the right direction, as bit by bit you can accomplish a great deal as long as you are heading in direction toward your goal.

Dear Prof. Tainer!

I totally agree with YOU! I am rather over optimistic than slightly pessimistic- I do my best to avoid generating negative emotions, thoughts. I wanted to focus in my answer above focus on COVID-19 - a new virus with many unknown traits. Self confidence in fighting the negativity related to the consequences of COVID-19 is of key importance. Yours sincerely, Bulcsu Szekely

Dear Dr. Bulcsu Szekely Thank you very much for your participation, Doctor...Indeed, I agree with you on that, sometimes the media plays a big role in spreading negative, misleading and far from reality ideas... I also commend your opinion about self-confidence because, in fact, faith, self-confidence, and hard work are the basis on which we rely in challenging and overcoming crises...We are so grateful for sharing this very valuable and useful information and sources with us... My sincere gratitude, Doctor.

Dear Dr. John Tainer Thank you very much for your participation, Doctor...Indeed, this is exactly what I was looking for when I asked how this type of optimism could affect our future, and certainly, colleagues answered brilliantly about the negative effects of this type of optimism...As well as Dr. Anamitra Roy gave a wonderful example to take advantage of this optimism to challenge the crises we face... In fact, if the great scientists had not had this kind of optimism, mankind would not have enjoyed the inventions, innovations, and scientific discoveries that we benefit from today... We are very grateful for sharing these valuable ideas and opinions... My sincere gratitude, Doctor.

Optimism without working to achieve the goal is considered a dream that is difficult to achieve

Dear Dr. Aqeel yousif Alshukri Thank you very much for your participation, Doctor...Indeed, I agree with you on that...Always we should work hard to achieve our goals...We are very grateful for sharing your valuable opinion about this debate...My sincere gratitude, Doctor.

Should have to refrain from to do the unrealistic optimism. Wishes the best.

Dear Dr. Md. Abdur Razzak Choudhury Thank you very much for your participation, Doctor...We are very grateful for sharing your opinion about this debate...But in my opinion, hope in God is great... Without hope and dreams, we will not reach anything and without God we are nothing...My sincere gratitude, Doctor.

Optimism based on a lack of evidence.

Dear Dr. Neil Dagnall Thank you very much for your contribution and comment. We are so grateful for sharing your opinion about this discussion...My sincere gratitude Doctor.

The "Unreal Optimism", known as "Candidity", the main feature of Voltaire's "Candido" or the famous "Pollyanna" from the novel by Eleanor H. Porter and which added a new term to the dictionary of the English language and, thus, "Pollyanna" is used to describe a person who is optimistic in an exaggerated way is CLEARLY INADEQUATE AND BORDERLINE WITH THE PATHOLOGICAL; It is the opposite of REASONABLE OR INTELLIGENT OPTIMISM: The intelligent optimist knows his limitations, but focuses on his possibilities and works to achieve the goals he sets for himself, and "UNREAL", bordering on naivety, is obviously dangerous because he is not capable of warn of dangers or problems and, thus, does not prevent them or take measures to face them (in a Politician, in a Healthcare Professional or in a Military it would also be TEMERARY) ... and it is that, as the saying goes, "of good intentions is Hell full "

Dear Dr. Francisco Javier Gala Thank you very much for your contribution and comment. We are so grateful for sharing your opinion about this discussion...My sincere gratitude Doctor.

Dear Manal Hadi Kanaan, I share most of the previous answers. In truth, I don't know exactly what "unrealistic optimism" is, nor do I know what "unrealistic pessimism" is. However, perhaps I am an incurable "unrealistic optimist". In fact, every now and then I go, without money or credit cards, to the most renowned and expensive restaurant in the area where I live to stuff myself with every good thing at the end when I am well satiated and satisfied I order a plate of oysters in the hope of finding at least one pearl with which to pay the bill. Up until now, I've always had to wash the dishes to pay the bill. Maybe I miss the connection between "optimism" and "realism" that Laura Bulgariu talks about in her beautiful, concise and complete answer.

Dear Dr. Leonardo Cannizzaro Thank you very much for your contribution and comment. Is this real??? Can a person go to the most expensive restaurants without money??? But unfortunately, I think that this kind of optimism is not useful...Indeed, I see many people who have great hope that they will find a treasure or win the lottery...I do not think that such optimism is useful...Sometimes optimism gives us hope for the resistance here it is useful..., also, when a person challenges his circumstances and insists on success... We are very grateful for sharing your opinion on this discussion... My sincere gratitude, Doctor.

Thanks to you, very dear and very respected Profª. Dra. Manal Hadi

Dear Manal Hadi Kanaan, in my opinion, there is no useful optimism and useless optimism. I cannot give any examples of useless optimism. Optimism is just optimism. Just as psychologically pessimism is always useless and harmful. It is absolutely true that an optimist can deliberately go for lunch or dinner, based on oysters, in any well-known and expensive restaurant knowing that he cannot foot the bill unless he finds at least one pearl in the oysters. Just as an optimist, even if lame, can win the Marathon at the Olympics if all other athletes are pessimistic. The optimism connected to a "just cause" is the main psychological aid to believe in what you are doing or what you want to do. If a person believes in what he does he is willing to face great efforts and sacrifices and therefore often succeeds. The pessimist lost even before he started.

Dear Dr. Leonardo Cannizzaro I totally agree with your opinion and with this sentence that really impressed me (If a person believes in what he is doing, he is willing to face great efforts and sacrifices and thus succeed more often. The pessimist lost even before he started), FULLY AGREE WITH THAT...My sincere gratitude Doctor.

A man is unrealistically optimist if he predicts

that a personal future outcome will be more favorable than that suggested by a relevant, objective standard

Dear Dr. Mubashir Ali Rather Thank you very much for your contribution and comment... We are very grateful for sharing your opinion on this discussion... My sincere gratitude, Doctor.

It must be human always optimistic so that he can work and overcome the difficulties of life .....Best Regards....drnsrnsaid..

Dear Dr. Nesreen Mohamed El-Said. Thank you very much for your contribution and comment... We are very grateful for sharing your opinion on this discussion... My sincere gratitude, Doctor.

Optimism Is unrealistic when we put impossible objectives, then it means failure.

Dear Dr. Mohamad Abdulhai Thank you very much for your contribution and comment... We are very grateful for sharing your opinion on this discussion... My sincere gratitude, Doctor.

Nice question

very interesting question! probably it has to do with FAITH .

Dear Dr. Muhammad Ihsan Dr. Vadim S. Gorshkov

Manal Hadi Kanaan

Article A Primer on Unrealistic Optimism

Dear Dr. Nirmala S.V.S.G Thank you very much for your contribution and comment... We are very grateful for sharing a very useful and valuable link with us... My sincere gratitude, Doctor.

Unrealistic optimism is typically assessed using either a direct or indirect elicitation method. In the direct approach, respondents provide a single comparative rating (e.g. 'Compared with a person the same age and gender as you, how likely are you to experience).

Dear Dr. Ravinder Kumar Sahdev Thank you very much for your contribution and comment... We are very grateful for sharing your opinion on this discussion... My sincere gratitude, Doctor.

I realise that there can be problems in being too optimistic, but to be in the company of someone who is optimistic is much more pleasant than he or she who tends to be pessimistic.

However, I used to know someone who always seemed to see things negatively. I'm sure that she was not depressed and she was in our friendship group. We laughed with her when she gave a gloomy response, and tell her that we expected her at 'say that'. And she would have a weak smile at it. I think we loved her for it.

Dear Dr. Mary C R Wilson Thank you very much for your contribution and comment...Indeed, I totally agree with you that optimism brings hope and of course people who are optimistic about events and life will have a positive impact on us...We are grateful for sharing your opinion and experience about this discussion...My sincere gratitude, Doctor.

Yes, the concept of "unrealistic optimism" described by you may in the future be one of the significant determinants of people making mistakes in the context of the development of civilization, which in a situation of increasing negative effects of this development may lead to serious crises and may even threaten the survival of people on Earth in the next several dozen years. The source of serious problems in the future will be the climate crisis caused by the ever faster global warming process. We currently know what to do as part of the pro-environmental transformation of the economy to avoid a serious climate crisis, but still not much people do in this matter. This can be related to the concept of "unrealistic optimism", in which people tend to be overly optimistic about the accumulating various negative effects of civilization development. A significant part of the society shows an attitude of "unrealistic optimism" due to a low level of social environmental responsibility, due to a low level of general social awareness of environmental issues or deliberately ignoring this issue.

Best regards,

Dariusz Prokopowicz

How many external factors exist only to create unrealistic optimizam?

Optimizam Is natural.

How it becomes unrealistic?

Expectations of others?

Fake motivators?

....

Dear Dr. Dariusz Prokopowicz and Dr. Masa Radulovic, MSc Thank you very much for your contribution and comment... We are very grateful for sharing your opinions on this discussion... My sincere gratitude, Doctors.

Agree with Yoganandan G.

Dear Dr. Nawab Khan Thank you very much for your contribution and comment... We are very grateful for your participation in this discussion... My sincere gratitude, Doctor.

Continuing and expanding my previous answer, to answer the second part of such an interesting question, people with a Personality Pattern based on "unreal optimism", naivety or "Pollyanna type profile" are quite likely to live and suffer a plagued future and pregnant with disappointments and frustrations when realizing that his flattering expectations above all, unfortunately, ARE NOT FULFILLED; This can even trigger a Depression, since things are as they are and not as we would like them to be and the relentless imposition of the Principle of REALITY on the Principle of DESIRE is always painful.

Dear Dr. Francisco Javier Gala Thank you very much for your contribution and comment. We are so grateful for sharing your opinion about this discussion...The participation of a great specialist like you is highly appreciated ...My sincere gratitude Doctor.

Thanks to you, very dear and very respected Profª. Dra. Manal Hadi

Optimism gives us energy and confidence to overcome challenges & difficulties. However, if it is over optimistic - a so-call “unrealistic optimism“, we are not well-prepared to deal with bad things or unexpected incidents that will happen.

Dear Dr. Cong Minh Huynh Thank you very much for your contribution and comment... We are very grateful for sharing your opinion about this discussion... My sincere gratitude, Doctor.

Dear Dr. Md. Al-Mamun Thank you very much for your contribution and comment... We are very grateful for sharing your opinion about this discussion... My sincere gratitude, Doctor.

Dear Dr. Md. Al-Mamun I am very sorry, but I address everyone with the title of Doctor because, frankly, I feel that it is part of my great respect for everyone, especially since we are a society of scientists... Therefore, I am very sorry, but this is my nature... Sometimes it is very difficult for our character to change (education in childhood like an engraving on a stone)... My sincere gratitude and appreciation.

Dear Manal Hadi Kanaan, thank you for this very important question concerning every stage of a person's life. I am an economist and historian by profession, so I will try to answer using my knowledge of history and economy. Yes, people are overly optimistic and arouse many other feelings in a way that is most likely inadequate to the situation and the seriousness of the problem. We know from the research of behavioral economics that people are not so much rational as rationalize the world they perceive with their senses and adjust the situation to their needs, their ethical values, beliefs, aspirations, ambitions, and prejudices. An example of business behavior that almost always pays off. If you are an enthusiastic seller of a product, and in particular a service that cannot be seen and cannot be physically "measured", the way you are received by the customer to whom you want to sell this something plays a big role. If the seller is overflowing with optimism, he gives the impression of being optimistic about the future of our customers with the product that he is trying to sell to us. If such a seller creates happy customers in his verbal presentation and with the use of gadgets, because the product / service will solve some of our important life problems, then such a seller sells a lot and becomes rich. Let me be straightforward, because in the past I worked as a financial services salesperson, the best salespeople who sold the most products and received gigantic commissions for revenues and profits attributed to the company, were people who had poor industry and product knowledge, poor education, but they had a great influence on the client's emotions, uplifting him and infecting him with optimism. Another example. Recruiters who are looking for the best candidates for positions in companies prefer optimists who see a bright future and are able not only to demonstrate experience and professional knowledge, but above all in their dynamic presentation they can solve almost every problem of their future employer and, most importantly, almost always overstate their own language and tool skills in job applications sent ... Now an example from the recent history of the Second World War. Today is the anniversary of the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising (August 1, 1944), which ended with a gigantic military defeat of Poles and the death of approx. 200 thousand people and the demolition of the city of Warsaw by the Nazis with the support of the Soviet army. If then in 1944 the command of the Home Army (Polish forces under occupation) had acted completely rationally and rationally, it should not have issued an order to fight for the liberation of Warsaw, because the forces of the insurgents were much weaker in numbers and very much poorly armed. However, emotions play a primary role at such turning points, even in the case of decisions made by generals ... Unfortunately, the order to fight was issued on August 1, 1944 in Warsaw, because it was believed that allies from England, the United States or even the Soviet Union (officially an ally ) they will come to the rescue and the fight will be won. I will say more, many insurgents assumed that the fight would last several days (2-3 days and won ...). In fact, it happened otherwise and the allies did not help the Poles in their heroic fight against the occupant in Warsaw. Due to faith and deteremination, despite the hopeless situation, the insurgents in Warsaw fought not for two but 63 days, as long as they had enough food and ammunition to fight. All this was the result of great emotions and excessive optimism regarding the future development. Many years have passed, we are in 2021 and that event has again a gigantic impact on the faith and optimism of the next generation of Poles and is again presented by politicians not from the position of rational thinking (this type of argumentation is poorly perceived), but from the position of winning the idea of ​​freedom and a just sacrifice for the cause of independence. So yes, excessive optimism has an impact on the life of not only the person who presents this optimism, but also on other people and even affects subsequent generations of people from the moment of the event, as can be seen in Warsaw, even 77 years after the event. Best regards

Dariusz

https://www.britannica.com/event/Warsaw-Uprising

https://ipn.gov.pl/en/digital-resources/articles/8492,The-most-beautiful-Polish-battle.html

Dear Dr. Dariusz Tomasz Grala Thank you very much for your contribution and comment... We are very grateful for sharing your valuable opinion and this wonderful analysis about this discussion...I also agree with you that the impact of excessive optimism is not only on the life of the person who exhibits that, but also on others, and may even affect subsequent generations of people, especially when the person who exhibits that is one who makes decisions. My sincere gratitude, Doctor.

Dear Dr. Md. Al-Mamun Thank you very much for your contribution and comment...Indeed, I agree with the example you gave... The risk factors that cause any disease cannot be underestimated, no matter how small, because they may lead to serious consequences...My sincere gratitude, Doctor.

Dear Dr. Maren Aase Thank you very much for your contribution and comment...Yes to plan for the future, we need to know past risk creations and acknowledge that we are all vulnerable to their recurrence, totally agree with that...We are very grateful for sharing your opinion about this discussion... My sincere gratitude, Doctor.

That's the so called wishful thinking.

Dear Dr. Jose Risomar Sousa Thank you very much, Doctor. We are so grateful for sharing your opinion with us...My sincere gratitude, Doctor.

Unrealistic optimism helps to survive difficult periods, crises and may correlate with innovative thinking, searching for new concepts, new solutions to emerging problems. On the other hand, unrealistic optimism should not reduce the scope of perception, observation, awareness and noticing new problems, threats and crises that arise.

Thank you very much,

Best wishes,

Dariusz Prokopowicz

Kindly check:

Article Unrealistic Optimism About Future Life Events: A Cautionary Note