Optimism and Wishful Thinking: Consistency Across Populations in Children's Expectations for the Future.
Saved in:
| Title: | Optimism and Wishful Thinking: Consistency Across Populations in Children's Expectations for the Future. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Bamford, Christi (AUTHOR), Lagattuta, Kristin Hansen (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Child Development. Jul/Aug2020, Vol. 91 Issue 4, p1116-1134. 19p. 1 Illustration, 2 Charts, 1 Graph. |
| Subjects: | Optimism in children, Expectation (Psychology) in children, Forecasting, Individual differences in children, Self-evaluation, City children, Research funding |
| Abstract: | Two studies investigated 5- to 10-year-olds' (N = 194) positivity bias when forecasting the future. Children from two geographic locations (mostly Caucasian, higher income college town; mostly African American, lower income urban community) completed a future expectations task (FET). For multiple scenarios, children predicted whether a positive versus negative (optimism items) or a positive versus extraordinary positive (wishful thinking items) outcome would occur, including its likelihood. In both samples, optimism and wishful thinking decreased with age, optimism was higher than wishful thinking, children did not show a comparative self-optimism bias, and individual differences in the FET optimism score correlated with self-reported dispositional optimism and hope. Exploratory comparisons revealed between-sample equivalence in responses to all measures, except for less tempered wishful thinking in the urban community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Child Development is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
|
Full text is not displayed to guests.
Login for full access.
|
|
| Abstract: | Two studies investigated 5- to 10-year-olds' (N = 194) positivity bias when forecasting the future. Children from two geographic locations (mostly Caucasian, higher income college town; mostly African American, lower income urban community) completed a future expectations task (FET). For multiple scenarios, children predicted whether a positive versus negative (optimism items) or a positive versus extraordinary positive (wishful thinking items) outcome would occur, including its likelihood. In both samples, optimism and wishful thinking decreased with age, optimism was higher than wishful thinking, children did not show a comparative self-optimism bias, and individual differences in the FET optimism score correlated with self-reported dispositional optimism and hope. Exploratory comparisons revealed between-sample equivalence in responses to all measures, except for less tempered wishful thinking in the urban community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 00093920 |
| DOI: | 10.1111/cdev.13293 |
