ISSN 1671-3710
CN 11-4766/R

Advances in Psychological Science ›› 2016, Vol. 24 ›› Issue (6): 946-957.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2016.00946

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The positive bias of dispositional optimism and the evidence of neurophysiology research

HAO Yanan; SONG Bodong; WANG Yan; ZHANG Qin; LANG Yue   

  1. (Beijing Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition, Department of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100037, China)
  • Received:2015-09-15 Online:2016-06-15 Published:2016-06-15
  • Contact: WANG Yan, E-mail: wyfmri@126.com

Abstract:

Optimism is generalized positive expectations for the future. It brings many benefits. For instance, optimism can improve individual’s physical health, well-being and promote success. One possible mechanism behind these phenomena is optimists’ positive bias in attention, perception, memory, explanatory styles, coping strategies, emotion, expectations and motivation, etc. Empirical evidence shows that positive bias of optimism is related to the activation level of rostral anterior cingulate cortex and prefrontal cortex. To deeply explore the mechanisms of optimism, it’s essential to take expectations, core of dispositional optimism, as the focus of research, integrating expectancy-value theory, personality theory, and neural basis in future studies.

Key words: optimism, positive bias, neurophysiological mechanisms