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SALT LAKE CITY — Can a “glass half full” attitude really take you farther in life? Possibly, but maybe not as far as one might think.
That’s the answer a University of Utah researcher uncovered with a new study, which looked at why people value optimism and whether it’s beneficial.
“I kept hearing about how optimistic mindset was so great, but then you think about all the times that striving for accuracy might be better for the individual,” said study co-author Elizabeth Tenney, an assistant professor of management at the David Eccles School of Business, in a release.
Tenney, along with her two co-authors from Berkley Haas School of Business, conducted five experiments testing how frequently people favored optimism, how much people associate optimism with desirable outcomes and whether or not being optimistic improves performance.
The researchers summarized their findings in “Too Optimistic About Optimism: The Belief that Optimism Improves Performance,” a paper that was published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
As a rule, you'll get the advice that it's better to be optimistic. But the truth is that it makes no difference.
–Don Moore, co-author
The paper revealed an optimistic attitude won’t help a person’s performance as much as expected. While study participants were more likely to associate optimism with positive outcomes, there was no solid indication that a positive attitude improved performance, according to co-author Don Moore.
“As a rule, you’ll get the advice that it’s better to be optimistic. But the truth is that it makes no difference,” Moore told the Washington Post. “Sometimes it’s even worse.”
How can optimism be negative? The study revealed that when people believe they can do something well, they’ll generally devote more effort and time into achieving it. The problem lies in the fact that just believing you can do something doesn’t necessarily mean you can, and you’re more likely to waste time and energy on something that will ultimately fail, Moore said.
Optimism can, however, produce positive outcomes, Tenney said, particularly when it comes to motivating a team or winning over investors or superiors.
“People are going to think that you need that optimism in order to perform, and they will expect your optimism and value it, but how much that optimism actually ends up helping you, well that’s another question,” said Tenney.
