Do rose tinted glasses really work?
Dispositional optimism, or having general expectancies that good things, rather than bad things, will happen is relatively stable, but can be grown with effort.
It sometimes seems like we are being told that we must see the good in everything, that it is tantamount to a crime against ourselves and others to not be positive, hopeful, bright, and cheery (even if things aren’t going so well). The optimistic of us are thought to be the heroes, as opposed to the pessimists who are at best the downers, and at worst, the villains.
This characterisation is too bad for those of us who can’t find our rose tinted glasses, because more often than not optimism is treated as a type of personality trait. Specifically, dispositional optimism, which refers to having general expectancies that good things, rather than bad things, will happen is thought to be a relatively stable component of the individual that doesn’t change much over time (Carver & Scheier, 2014). Furthermore, there is actually a large and growing body of research that shows people high in dispositional optimism have better outcomes; higher job performance, greater perceived leadership ability, as well as overall higher levels of well-being, and athletic ability among a raft of other outcomes. But why is this the case, and is it really true that optimism is a panacea for life’s ills, but is really only something that you are born with and can’t be learned over time?
Firstly, it isn’t necessarily optimism that leads to better outcomes. Optimistic people actually tend to craft environments that allow them to set and achieve the right goals – basically they know when to let go and disengage from intractable and unobtainable goals, which lets them conserve resources and pursue more obtainable goals in the long run. They also know how to reach out for support to achieve their goals, tend to be more cooperative in their problem solving, and therefore are often better at dealing with stress. This leads to a reinforcing process where optimism allows for achievement, and this attracts support, breeds positive emotions and encourages the resources needed to achieve higher goals in the future.
This now seems a bit dire for the pessimists, but it actually isn’t. There is a really important recent evidence that optimism might be not simply be a part of personality, but also that it can be developed through “socialising effects of life experience”. What this means is that life events can actually increase your optimism over the long-term (which suggests that we all have access to those reinforcing systems of feedback and positivity). In fact, it has been found that experiencing positive events increase optimism over the course of your life (Li, Li, Fay,& Frese, 2019).
But which events help to ensure you view the world in an optimistic way? In two words; critical and difficult ones. Optimism is thought to be particularly malleable during important critical life transitions such as when you attempt to learn something new or take on a new role. During these times, accomplishing goals is often uncertain, even for those who have been successful in the past and expect to be successful in the future. The outcomes of these transitions provides fertile ground for changes in optimism to occur – for better or worse.
The lesson to be learned is that seeing the world in a positive way can actually be really helpful for you. Rose-tinted glasses do indeed work. However, you can get rid of the notion that you can only have these if you are born with them. Rather optimism can be developed, and the best place to put this to the test is in difficult situations where you really challenge yourself.
- Jaimee
Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (2014). Dispositional optimism. Trends in cognitive sciences, 18(6), 293-299.
Li, W. D., Li, S., Fay, D., & Frese, M. (2019). Reciprocal relationships between dispositional optimism and work experiences: A five-wave longitudinal investigation. The Journal of applied psychology. 10.1037/apl0000417