Gold Ron S
Deakin University, Victoria, Australia.
Psychol Health Med. 2008 Mar;13(2):193-201. doi: 10.1080/13548500701426745.
Individuals typically exhibit "unrealistic optimism" (UO), the belief that they are less likely than the average person to experience a negative event. This may be because, fearing the event, they try to reassure themselves by distorting their reasoning to conclude that they are at comparatively little risk. If this is so, the greater the "event threat" (i.e., the more serious the event's consequences and/or the greater the likelihood that those consequences will be experienced), the more reassurance should be required, and the greater the UO that should be observed. This prediction was tested in a study in which students (N = 148) were informed about a type of heart disease that could develop in later life due to inadequate diet when young. The risk attributable to diet was stated to be either slight (low-threat condition) or great (high-threat condition). Participants were asked to rate their own risk and that of the average student of developing the disease; question order was counterbalanced. The effects of event threat and question order were found to interact: event threat affected UO in the predicted way, but only when the question about own risk came first. The results are explained in motivational terms. Implications for health education are discussed.
个体通常表现出“不切实际的乐观主义”（UO），即认为自己比普通人更不容易经历负面事件。这可能是因为，由于害怕该事件，他们试图通过扭曲自己的推理来安慰自己，得出自己面临的风险相对较小的结论。如果是这样，“事件威胁”越大（即事件的后果越严重和/或经历这些后果的可能性越大），就越需要安慰，观察到的不切实际的乐观主义也应该越大。这一预测在一项研究中得到了验证，在该研究中，向学生（N = 148）介绍了一种由于年轻时饮食不当可能在晚年患上的心脏病。归因于饮食的风险被说明为轻微（低威胁条件）或很大（高威胁条件）。参与者被要求对自己患这种疾病的风险以及普通学生患这种疾病的风险进行评分；问题顺序进行了平衡处理。发现事件威胁和问题顺序的影响相互作用：事件威胁以预测的方式影响不切实际的乐观主义，但只有当关于自己风险的问题首先提出时才会如此。结果从动机角度进行了解释。讨论了对健康教育的启示。
