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RESEARCH PRODUCT
Disentangling the effects of optimism and attributions on feelings of success
Anette HiemischSebastian BurchertMareen SelleSarah Von SaßStephan LauNils OberländerThomas KubiakMark GoeringHannes Von Mauschwitzsubject
Elementary cognitive taskInstitut für Psychologiemedia_common.quotation_subjectPessimismAffect (psychology)OptimismRestricted rangeFeelingAttributionAssociation (psychology)PsychologySocial psychologyGeneral Psychologymedia_commondescription
Two experiments examined the effects of dispositional optimism and attributions on feelings of success in a performance setting. In Experiment 1, participants successfully solved three cognitive tasks and attributed the success either internally (i.e., to themselves) or externally (i.e., to a teammate). We found no effect of optimism, but a significant effect of the attribution: Internal attribution predicted an increase in feelings of success. In Experiment 2, we replicated the design and adopted an extreme groups approach in order to include the extremes of the optimism dimension. Only optimism affected feelings of success in this sample: Pessimistic participants showed higher increases in feelings of success than optimistic participants. We conclude that optimism, if disentangled from attribution, may have an effect on affect, with pessimism showing potential affective benefits. However, this association may be concealed if samples with a restricted range of the optimism dimension are studied.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-01-01 | Personality and Individual Differences |