The Half Full or Half Empty Glass: The Views of the Economic Optimist vs Pessimist

Abstract

This paper examines the economic beliefs and value correlates of adults either optimistic or pessimistic about their economic future. On the basis of an internally reliable, 19-item scale, nearly 277 British subjects were divided into economic pessimists, optimists, and status quo observers. These economic views were then correlated with ratings on economic social comparisons, beliefs about work, job involvement, and economic "values." Subjects with Marxist-related work beliefs tended to be more pessimistic and those with leisure ethic beliefs tended to be more optimistic. A multiple stepwise regression showed that nearly 45% of the variance could be accounted for by five factors which indicated that older, less religious, richer people who strongly believed in the humanistic work-belief system, but not in the leisure ethic, tended to be more pessimistic about the economic future of their country. The results are discussed in terms of the literature on psychological and economic optimism and pessimism.