Role of optimism in attitude towards self

Abstract

Optimism has proven to be an effective coping and recovery tool in many situations. The review suggests a wide variety in the revealed predominance of psychiatric morbidity and behavioural issues in Indian adolescents. Will optimism be regulative in the self-punitive attitudes of depressed adolescents? Self-punitive attitudes involve- holding overly high standards, being self-critical at any failure to perform well, and generalizing from a single failure to a broader sense of self-worth, which is usually characteristic of depressed people. The current study aims to understand the role of optimism in the Indian urban older adolescents’ attitudes towards self. A sample of one hundred and ninety-two older adolescents (50% males and 50% females) aged between fifteen to nineteen years residing in the Noida region of NCR Delhi, was taken for this study. Results revealed that optimism has a significant negative association with self-criticism and generalization. Furthermore, maximum likelihood estimates indicated that optimism significantly predicts self-criticism and generalization. Although no significant effect or association was observed on high standards, optimism may play a vital role in preventing adolescents’ cognitive contaminants of depression.