Dispositional, Unrealistic, and Comparative Optimism: Differential Relations with the Knowledge and Processing of Risk Information and Beliefs about Personal Risk

Abstract

This study examined the relationship of dispositional, unrealistic, and comparative optimism to each other and to personal risk beliefs, actual risk, and the knowledge and processing of risk information. The study included 146 middle-age adults who reported heart attack-related knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors and read an essay about heart attack risk factors. Dispositional optimism was correlated with comparative optimism (perception of low risk relative to peers) but not with a variable assessing accuracy of participants’ comparative risk estimates (unrealistic optimism). Individuals high in dispositional optimism and comparative optimism possessed an adaptive risk and belief profile and knew more about heart attacks, whereas unrealistically optimistic individuals exhibited the opposite pattern and also learned relatively less of the essay material. Evidently, perceptions of low comparative risk are relatively accurate, dispositional optimism is associated in an adaptive way with information processing, and unrealistic optimism may be associated with processing deficits and defensiveness, as well as higher risk.