Betsi Little

Date of Award

3-28-2007

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Cheryl Terrance

Abstract

Research has shown that the general expectancy for positive outcomes, optimism, has been linked closely with the ability to positively cope with adverse life events, such as cancer, stress and depression. Being discriminated against has been shown to be a stressful event that has a negative psychological impact such as lowering self-esteem. Traits that have been linked with optimism, such as hardiness and self-efficacy have also been found to help combat the effects of discrimination among women. Although these traits implicate the role of optimism, to date, the possible effect of optimism itself as a buffer against the negative effects of discrimination has not been empirically investigated. To this end, participants were given a bogus achievement task to complete with the possibility of reward. After the completion of the task, men were told they had performed well while the women were given negative feedback and left to complete a set of questionnaires including the Life Orientation Test (LOT) developed by Scheier & Carver (1985) which measures optimism, as well as a manipulation check to assess perceived discrimination. Results indicate that those who rate high on optimism engaged in more positive coping strategies than those who rate low on optimism. Implications are discussed.

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