Optimism and Health Paper

Optimism and Health Paper

Optimism and Health Paper
The effect of optimism on psychological health is very much related to one’s happiness and self-esteem. According to Social Indicators Research (2006), Agency and competence - Although   less research has addressed the relationship between self-esteem and stable, dispositional constructs, some clues regarding the source of feelings of self-worth are provided in theoretical accounts of self-esteem. For example, according to one theoretical perspective, self esteem is gained through efficacious and successful navigation of one’s environment, whereby one acquires a sense of control, competence, and ability (Bandura, 1979; Crocker and Major, 1989; cf. Van Tuinen and Ramanaiah, 1979). Furthermore, according to a developmental perspective, self-worth is derived from having a sense of competence in domains that are valued by the individual and important significant others (Harter, 1993).
Thus, self esteem would be expected to be closely linked with a sense of agency or mastery and control of one’s environment. Indeed, the notion that a sense of personal control is critical to self-concept and self-esteem has been endorsed by a number of theorists (e.g., Fenichel, 1945; Heider, 1958; White, 1959; see Taylor and Brown, 1988, for a review).
Positive expectations. Self-esteem is also highly correlated with optimism and lack of hopelessness in college students (Scheier et al., 1994; Lucas et al., 1996; see also Tennen and Affleck, 1993). Optimists anticipate bright futures and expect favorable outcomes for their actions. Thus, one might expect optimist to persist longer and harder through life’s task and challenges, creating self-fulfilling prophecies, and, consequently, bolstering their self-regard (Social Indicators Research, 2006).
In sum, it would appear that self-esteem is strongly related to motivational constructs such as optimism, mastery, and competence – that is, feelings that one is a competent agent, capable of success (Social...