Abstract: The optimism is one of the most important central concepts in the Positive Psychology. Optimism has a high correlation with the people’s future focus and optimism is the predictor of people’s physical－mental health, This article summs up the optimism main researches on the optimism conception, including the expectancy-value theory、personality trait theory and explanatory style theory, and the optimism structure, including the unidimensional structure、bidimensional structure、three factors model and the second-order construct, and the corresponding measurement . The research on the neurobiology of optimism and its influence mechanism on people’s physical-mental health in Chinese culture context is the trend of research in this field

Key words: dispositional optimism, explanatory style, defensive pessimism