The present study explored how older adults adapt to the negative changes that often occur as people age. This study sought to provide a comprehensive investigation of how the positive psychology variables of hope, optimism, resilience, and self-efficacy might work together to serve as protective factors against the potentially deleterious impact of negative environmental variables on the subjective well-being of older adults. The negative environmental variables examined in this study included declining health status, lower social support, and negative life events (e.g., loss of spouse, reduced income, etc.). In this study, the subjective well-being in older adults is defined as an overall sense of satisfaction with life, high positive affect, and low negative affect. This study examined three primary hypothesized models, each investigating how positive internal dispositional factors (as measured by taking the composite of hope, optimism, resilience, and self-efficacy), work together to mediate the relationship between the components of subjective well-being and a different environmental variable for each model. Several alternative path analyses models were also run based on modifications to the model that achieved good fit, with the goal of evaluating whether the individual positive psychology constructs either fully or partially mediated between certain environmental variables and each of the components of subjective well-being. Although no adequate fits were attained for the models evaluating social support and negative life events, results of this study showed an adequate fit for the model evaluating the positive psychology cluster as a mediator between health status and the subjective well-being components; more specifically, the positive psychology cluster was shown to mediate the relationship between perceived health and two of the three components of subjective well-being (life satisfaction and positive affect). In addition, correlation analyses revealed that the positive psychology variables were all significantly correlated with each other, as well as with the participant reports of life satisfaction, positive affect, and perceived health. These findings suggest that participants who reported higher levels of the positive psychology constructs experienced higher satisfaction with life and positive affect, and perceived themselves as having a lower occurrence of health problems. Overall, these results provide additional evidence for the protective role that hope, optimism, resilience, and self-efficacy may play in maintaining the well-being of older adults.

The goal of the present investigation was to explore the effects of automatic emotion regulation on the desirability bias. The desirability bias is the tendency to believe that one will experience desirable outcomes and not experience undesirable outcomes. Previous research has demonstrated that the desirability bias is due to affective reactions to potential events. Further, deliberate emotion regulation has been shown to reduce the desirability bias. The present investigation explored whether the desirability bias can be reduced by priming a nonconscious goal to regulate emotion before experience of affective reactions to an event. Participants were primed to either express or regulate their emotions before playing a game of chance where cards could result in positive, negative or neutral outcomes. Results showed that the method of priming emotion regulation or expression did not effectively elicit nonconscious goals. Because the manipulation was not effective, the effect of automatic emotion regulation on the desirability bias could not be examined and there was no effect of the prime on bias. Despite the failed manipulation, the findings are still beneficial to the desirability bias literature in that they demonstrate a clear desirability bias in participants' predictions with the use of a within-subjects design. A follow up study using a stronger prime of regulation to test the influence of automatic emotion regulation in reducing the desirability bias is discussed.

Thesis supervisor: Paul D. Windschitl. Includes bibliographic references (p. 73-81).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 85-90).

According to recent data, approximately eighteen percent of children under age 18 live in single-parent households. The majority of research has focused on negative outcomes associated with one-parent households in comparison with their two-parent counterparts, including poor academic performance and increased delinquency rates in children. The current literature neglects to evaluate potentially advantageous factors resultant of being raised in a single-parent home. The proposed study utilizes an exploratory positive psychology approach to investigate levels of resiliency and adaptive skill sets present in college students raised in single-parent households in comparison to degree of cumulative risk encountered. Analyses of these variables will be completed through ordinary least squares multiple regression. Furthermore, parenting style will be examined as a potential moderator of resiliency. Finally, this study proposes the adoption of a new paradigm in ongoing investigation of this unique population. / text

Bakgrund - Denna studie undersökte ett organisationspsykologiskt fenomen från ett arbetsvetenskapligtperspektiv som bygger på förståelsen att de anställda är en värdefull tillgång och en viktig resurs för allaorganisationer. Utifrån denna filosofi undersöktes anställdas upplevda arbetsengagemang i relation till deraspersonlighetsdrag i ett företag som är verksam inom handel. Detta företag strävar efter professionell kundserviceoch de anställda ses som en tillgång att uppnå detta mål. Så vitt vi känner till har en liknande studie integenomförts utifrån ett arbetsvetenskapligt perspektiv tills nu. Vi menar dessutom att det är intressant att studeraarbetsengagemang i relation till personlighetsdrag som kan ge en fördel i att utveckla HR-strategier som äranpassade till de anställdas individuella behov och förutsättningar.Syfte - Denna undersökning syftar till att öka förståelsen för och kunskap om hur personliga resurser (genompersonliga egenskaper) kan medföra en skillnad för individens arbetsengagemang och hur detta i sin tur kanmedföra en skillnad i individens livssituation.Metod/Design - Studiens forskningsansats är en explorativ och kvantitativ undersökningsdesign somgenomfördes på 102 anställda inom ett handelsföretag. Anställdas arbetsengagemang och deraspersonlighetsdrag dvs. en optimistisk livssyn och affektiv personlighet mättes med Utrechts Work EngagementScale (UWES), Life Orientation Test (LOT) och Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS). Enkäten frågadedessutom efter de anställdas demografiska faktorer, såsom kön, ålder och civilstånd samt deras arbetssituationoch tidsmässiga mönster i privatlivet.Resultat - Korrelation mellan affektivt temperament och arbetsengagemang .50, p < .01, korrelation mellanoptimistisk livssyn och arbetsengagemang .38, p < .01. Skillnader fanns mellan anställda med ett högt och lågtarbetsengagemang i hänseende till civilstånd U = 670.0, p < .05, ansvarstillägg U = 674.0, p < .05, upplevd orkoch energi utanför arbetet x2 (2) = 7.9, p < .05, och tid ägnat åt familj U = 680.5, p < .05.Diskussion - Resultaten av denna studie ger stöd åt att personlighetsdrag är signifikant kopplat till anställdasarbetsengagemang. Studien fann också att anställda med ett högt arbetsengagemang visade ett annorlundamönster i sin arbets- och privatlivssituation jämfört med dem med lågt arbetsengagemang. Baserat på dettaföreslås en modell av personlighetstyper som beskriver fyra olika typer av engagemang och dess möjligainteraktion med arbetsmiljön och sin privata miljö. Resultaten från denna studie kan vara av värdefullinformation och nytta för människor som arbetar inom HR-området eftersom de personlighetstyper ger en ökadförståelse för hur individer engagerar sig i sitt arbete baserat på deras tanke- och känslomässiga mönster. Förframtida undersökningar skulle man kunna utveckla individanpassade HR-strategier som stöttar och germöjligheter för dessa olika personlighetstyper enligt deras behov och förutsättningar.

Charities provide many vital services for New Zealand society; however, charities are in constant need of donations from the public in order to provide these services. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between situational optimism/pessimism and donating intentions. Two hundred and fifty three people from the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand took part in experiment. Participants were randomly assigned to one of five conditions in which they viewed an optimistic, pessimistic or neutral (control) image and were asked to rate their intention to donate to a disaster relief charity. When covariates were controlled for, the results revealed that people who saw the pessimistic image were more likely to intend to donate than participants who looked at optimistic image. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Enligt Bandura (1997) är self-efficacy tron på den egna förmågan att slutföra uppgifter och nå mål. Denna studie undersökte sambandet mellan upplevd beslutsfrihet under sena tonåren, upplevd stress från föräldrar under sena tonåren, upplevd optimism under sena tonåren och self-efficacy. Stickprovet på 133 studenter, varav 35 män och två av okänt kön skattade sina upplevelser och self-efficacy. En multipel hierarkisk regressionsanalys visade att self-efficacy korrelerade positivt med både beslutsfrihet och optimism vilket gav stöd för hypotes 1 och 3. Variationen i de oberoende variablerna och kontrollvariablerna kunde förklara 12% av variationen i self-efficacy. Sambandet mellan hög self-efficacy och hög upplevd grad av beslutsfrihet under sena tonåren förklarades som socialt stöd i form av tillit från föräldrarna. Sambandet mellan self-efficacy och upplevd grad av optimism under sena tonåren förklarades som att optimism ökar prestationen och chansen för framgångar. Studien föreslog att föräldrar bör ge sina tonåringar beslutsfrihet för att stärka self-efficacy.

Schopenhauer argues, strikingly, that it would have been better if life had not come into existence. In this essay I consider this pessimistic judgment from a philosophical perspective. I take on the following three tasks. First, I consider whether such judgments, apparently products of temperament rather than reason, can be the subject of productive philosophical analysis. I argue that they can be, since, importantly, we can separate arguments for such judgments that establish them as plausible from those that do not. Second, I evaluate Schopenhauer’s arguments for pessimism. I argue that although we must reject Schopenhauer’s main argument for pessimism, he has another, more plausible argument for pessimism that hitherto has been neglected by scholars. Finally, I argue that although pessimism can be established as the correct judgment about life in some possible worlds, in our world the question of pessimism or optimism cannot be definitively answered.

Bowlby’s (1973) theory of adult attachment was used to provide a theoretical framework for the present study, which examined the relationship between adult attachment and depression. Social support, self-esteem, and optimism were proposed as potential mediating factors. Two competing models were designed and tested to investigate relationships among variables. Models were determined a priori based on theoretical and empirical literature. In the primary model, adult attachment was proposed to influence depression both directly and also indirectly through social support, self esteem and optimism. Alternately, in the second model, additional paths were added from social support and optimism to self esteem. Structural equation modeling was used to assess the fit of the two models to the data for the present study. Hypotheses of the study were that insecure attachment styles would correlate with negative outcomes, including dissatisfaction with social support, low self-esteem, pessimistic life orientation, and depressive symptoms. The hypothesized relationships among variables were supported by the data. Specifically, adult attachment directly influenced social support, self-esteem, and optimism; adult attachment indirectly influenced self-esteem through social support and optimism; finally, attachment, social support, and optimism indirectly influenced depression through self-esteem. In the discussion section, implications for theory and practice, methodological limitations, and directions for future research are provided. Results of the study conclude that attachment style has the potential to significantly influence many different areas of life functioning, including satisfaction with social support, self-esteem, levels of optimism, and depression. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services