Katie Nicholson

The positive psychology movement has built upon working towards the positive aspects of ‘human strengths and virtues’ (Sheldon & King, 2001), and the ‘aspects of the human conditioning that lead to happiness’ (The Journal of Positive Psychology, 2005, cited in Linley, Joseph, Harrington & Wood, 2006), rather than being focused on healing (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). The power of positive thinking to promote well-being is encouraged with confident thoughts providing an optimistic outlook on life (Marshall, Wortman, Kusulas, Hervig & Vickers, 1992). With the movement still being very fresh within the academia of psychology there appears to be plenty of scope for future research.

Karen Wadey

‘Optimism is not simply the absence of pessimism, and well-being is not simply the absence of helplessness. (Peterson, 2006, pp. 122)

Within positive psychology, optimism has been conceptualised in several ways. This discussion will focus on the ‘explanatory style’ view (Buchanan & Seligman, 1995) of optimism and will show that whilst the theory has been well researched - with valid, reliable, flexible and complimentary measurements - its application in, for example, education has led to interventions primarily concerned with the treatment or prevention of depression rather than an extensive promotion of optimism for its own sake. Given that the aim of positive psychology is to address the imbalance between the focus of psychology on dysfunction and optimal functioning, it is clear that the potential contribution of explanatory style of optimism has not yet been fully realised within positive psychology, particularly in schools and early years programmes.

‘Instead of a naïve scientist entering the environment in search of the truth, we find the rather unflattering picture of a charlatan trying to make the data come out in a manner most advantageous to his or her already-held theories’

Fiske & Taylor, 1984

The following article aims to critically discuss the contribution of “positive illusions” to the field of positive psychology. In order to do this, we will begin by examining how the concept arose and what we mean by the term, as well as considering the suggested benefits of positive illusions. We will then move on to an exploration of how “positive illusions” compares to other pertinent constructs within positive psychology (and psychology generally). This will lead us to a critique of the concept which will enable us to consider the contribution that our understanding of “positive illusions” has made to positive psychology. Finally, we will conclude with consideration of how we might fruitfully continue developing the idea of positive illusions.

Research in optimism is a burgeoning field. There have been more studies on optimism in the last seven years than in the previous twenty. Reviewing the field of research on optimism, one is at first struck by the overwhelming number of positive outcomes associated with optimism and then by the widespread propensity that humans have for optimism or for a positive bias in their outlook on life and their self assessment.

‘Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement...no pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit’. Helen Keller (1880 – 1968)

Helen Keller’s words reflect the popular upbeat concept of the word which has been gaining ground since the 1960s as an increasing body of research has demonstrated a consistent tendency of healthy successful people to think in generally positive ways.

People can be differentiated to the extent that they have different expectancies about the achievement of their goals, and other future events. Optimists have a generalised sense of confidence about the future, characterised by their broad expectancy that outcomes are likely to be positive. Pessimists, on the other hand, have a generalised sense of doubt and hesitancy, characterised by the future anticipation of negative outcomes. So is it better to be an optimist or a pessimist?