Conversano et al. (2010), state that optimism is a disposition of hope and having a positive outlook in life. It can be best defined by individuals that wholeheartedly believe that good overwhelm bad in most scenarios. Recent research studies show that there is a positive and undeniable correlation between an individual’s mental and physical well-being. It takes having improved adaptive strategies to counter day-to-day challenges to be referred to as an optimistic individual. Optimism and positivity result in positive repercussions’ but there is a negative side to it which is called toxic positivity. Khedr (2019) argues that all individuals that disregard challenges or hardships can cause detrimental mental health effects to themselves. There is no way of reducing impacts such as sadness, fear, and anxiety during a time of struggles by thinking or reflecting on good times; trying to mask those feelings ends up making it worse in most cases. Conversano et al. (2010), argue that optimistic individuals are more prone to “cognitive underestimation of risk” also referred to as “unrealistic optimism”. He also states that individuals mostly tend to have a strong bias towards them and are stuck on the notion that good things occur to them more as compared to others. According to Scheier et al., (1989), patients having to endure aortic-coronary bypass have a better recovery chance and post-surgery if they were more optimistic.
Optimism is profoundly a cause of positive outcomes but we have to ask ourselves if sex or gender affects optimism. Could a person or population be more optimistic than others? Sheehy (2011), states that it has been proven that females are more optimistic compared to men. For example, older women are perceived to have higher optimism; this is owed to the notion of having a strong social support system “girlfriends”. This support system allows the women to have girl talk and vent which relieves the pressure due to community-oriented living. It allows for de-stress ING through the various interactions that help form positive relationships hence an improved outlook on life. This is contrary to men who lack such a strong support system; most men lack friendships outside their work perimeter. This research study aims at determining which male and female population has a higher optimism rate across the various age groups.
Method
Participants
The participants involved in this research were made up of 10 males and 10 females with a range of 20-60 years of age who were asked to fill out a survey. They were selected from a range of occupations namely: nurses, patient caregivers, medical office staff, and a student nurses; this selection was carried out fairly irrespective of ethnic backgrounds or income. The majority of the target sample were nurses and were aged between 20 and 55. This study was entirely voluntary hence no compensation for the participants.
Materials
This project utilized the LOT-R (Life Orientation Test-Revised), Scheier et al.,(1994) questionnaire was used and it comprises three parts. The first part involved categorizing the participants according to age group (under 19, 20 – 30,31-40,41-50,51-60 and 60+), the second part considered their sex (male or female), and lastly, a composition of 6 questions with the highest and lowest scores being 30 and respectively. A Likert-rating scale was utilized, an answer attached to a corresponding number: 1. Strongly Disagree, 2. Somewhat Disagree, 3. Neutral (Neither Agree nor Disagree), 4. Somewhat Agree and 5. Strongly Agree. This rating scale is analyzed in the sense that a higher score indicates more optimism and vice versa.
Participants were asked to assess and give honest answers evaluating the aforementioned questions based on their understanding of optimism. Do they expect things to go their way always? Are they always optimistic about their future? Are they optimistic even in bad times? How often do things go wrong for them? and if they anticipate more good things than bad to happen to them?
Procedure
I asked a total of 30 participants in my class statistics survey using random selection based on workdays, clinical days, and school days for the 1 student nurse. The questionnaire was anonymous and entirely confidential hence I would select the student nurse, 9 nurses, and 5 of each of the other two occupations. The project didn’t require documentation of data from any other categorization apart from the aforementioned ones. Despite all information relayed to the participants, they were not informed of the hypothesis.
Results
Data to assess the invalid hypothesis incorporated the outcomes from the questionnaires. The combined totals from the questionnaires produced a composite score for evaluation. The higher the score, the more noteworthy the optimism. The maximum composite score is thirty, and the lowest combined score is six identifying as least optimistic. Female composite scores varied from 12 to 26, focal tendencies of the scores were calculated at a mean of 18.53, a median of 18, and a mode of 17. Male composite scores varied from 10 to 29; the calculated focal inclinations for the bunch were at a mean of 18.1, a median of 17, and a mode of 18. The graph below shows women have a marginally more elevated level of optimism while contrasting the central inclination scores. The standard deviation for the female category is 4.17, and for the men, 4.19; their difference is 1.02. Standard deviation points towards the score’s distance from the mean and the amount of the difference in the scores (Salkind, 2017). Women have a positive slant at -0.04, and men are expected to have a right slant where the right tail is more prolonged, and distribution is at the left. Since the p-value in the independent t-test is more significant than 0.05, coming in at 0.8179, there is no significant statistical evanescence for the invalid hypothesis. I will still retain the invalid hypothesis.
Discussion
As per the outcomes, women will quite often have more optimism than men in this situation. Remembering that there are just 20 participants with age not employed when choosing the participant. A more comprehensive sample size is required to conclude that female optimism is higher compared to male optimism. While it is also vital to take note of the participants’ selection, I explicitly chose those in the medical field. Currently, it is a challenging time for many in this field which has reasonable pay and work stability along with the troubling times. Clinical personnel also have many opportunities to progress in their careers. Women were more optimistic but not a sufficiently huge contrast for me to immovably confirm that women are typically more optimistic.
References
Conversano, C., Rotondo, A., Lensi, E., Della Vista, O., Arpone, F., & Reda, M. A. (2010). Optimism and its impact on mental and physical well-being. Clinical Practice & Epidemiology in Mental Health, 6(1), 25-29.
Khedr, M. [Mahmoud Khedr]. (2019, November 22). How Toxic Positivity Leads to More Suffering [Video]. YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EOj2Z7hw5w Salkind, N. J. (2017). Statistics for people who (think they) hate statistics. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Scheier, M. F., Carver, C. S., & Bridges, M. W. (1994). Distinguishing optimism from neuroticism (and trait anxiety, self-mastery, and self-esteem): A re-evaluation of the Life Orientation Test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 1063-1078.
Scheier, M. F., Matthews, K. A., Owens, J. F., Magovern, G. J., Lefebvre, R. C., Abbott, R. A., & Carver, C. S. (1989). Dispositional optimism and recovery from coronary artery bypass surgery: The beneficial effects on physical and psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(6), 1024-1040. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.57.6.1024
Sheehy, G. (2011, October 4). Girlfriends are key to women’s optimism. Retrieved from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/wellness/new- passages/story/2011/10/ Girlfriends-are-key-to-womens-optimism/50646428/1
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