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.

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.

Thesis--Leipzig. / Includes bibliographical references.

Inaug.-diss.--Göttingen. / Lebenslauf. "Literatur": p. [53]-55.

Thesis (M.A.)--West Virginia University, 2002. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains ix, 91 p. : ill. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 46-51).

Thesis--Leipzig. / Includes bibliographical references.

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--University of Toledo, 2010 / Typescript. "Submitted to the Graduate Faculty as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Psychology." "A dissertation entitled"--at head of title. Title from title page of PDF document. Bibliography: p. 78-93.

No description available.

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<p>Syftet med studien var att undersöka om det optimistiska/pessimistiska personlighetsdraget hos kvinnor med bröstcancer förändras av att genomgå en strålbehandlingsserie. Studien hade en jämförande design och urvalet var ett bekvämlighetsurval. Undersökningsgruppen bestod av 67 kvinnor i åldern 30 till 86 år med behandlingsbar bröstcancer. Kvinnornas personlighetsdrag skattades före och efter strålbehandlingsserien med hjälp av ett validerat mätinstrument, LOT-R. Enkäten bestod av tio påståenden som besvarades med hjälp av en fem-gradig skala ( 0="Stämmer inte alls,..., 4="Stämmer precis"). Poängen summerades för att få en totalsumma, en "optimistpoäng" (0-24 poäng). För att tolka resultatet skapades sedan fyra kategorier - stor pessimist (0-6 poäng), liten pessimist (7-12 poäng), liten optimist (13-18 poäng) samt stor optimist (19-24 poäng). Majoriteten av kvinnorna hamnade, både före och efter behandlingsserien, i kategorin "liten optimist". Medianpoängen var 17 poäng före och 18 poäng efter behandlingsserien. Skattningarna före respektive efter strålbehandlingsserien jämfördes med hjälp av Wilcoxon's signed ranked test. Resultatet visade att ingen signifikant skillnad fanns mellan skattningarna före respektive efter strålbehandlingsserien (p=0.141; Z=-1.471). Studiens huvudresultat var att bland kvinnor med behandlingsbar bröstcancer är det optimistiska/pessimistiska personlighetsdraget stabilt och förändras inte av att genomgå en strålbehandlingsserie.</p> / <p>The aim of the study was to evaluate if the optimistic/pessimistic trait among women with breast cancer are changed by undergoing radiation treatment. The study had a comparative design and the sample was selected through convenience sampling. The sample consisted of 67 women in the age 30 to 86 years with treatable breast cancer. The optimistic trait was estimated before and after the radiation treatment by means of a validated scale, LOT-R. The questionnaire is a ten-item self report measure, responded to on a scale of five (0="Strongly disagree", …, 4="Strongly agree"). The points were summarized to get a total, an “optimistic score” (0-24 points). Four categories were created to interpret the result: major pessimist (0-6 points), small pessimist (7-12 points), small optimist (13-18 points) and major optimist (19-24 points). A majority of the women was in the category “small optimist” both before and after the treatment. The median score was 17 points before the radiation treatment, and 18 points after the treatment. The estimation before as well as after the radiation treatment was compared by means of Wilcoxon’s signed ranked test. The result showed no significant difference between the estimations before and after the radiation treatment (p=0.141; Z=-1.471). The main result of the study was that the optimistic trait is stable among women with treatable breast cancer, and does not change by undergoing radiation treatment.</p>