Dispositional Optimism, Affective States and Judgements of Future Life Events

Abstract

This research examined the relationship between dispositional optimism and judgements of future life events, and whether this relationship is moderated by affective states. An adolescent sample (N = 139, 57.6 % girls) was recruited. After filling in the questionnaire for dispositional optimism, the participants were randomly assigned in the experimental conditions in order to induce negative affective states versus control condition. Finally, the participants completed the affective states and judgements of future life events scales. The results indicated that dispositional optimism positively correlated with judgement of positive events, but not with judgements of negative events. We found evidence for affective state as a moderator; the relationship between dispositional optimism and judgements of future positive events was stronger in the control condition compared to the negative affective state condition. T he implications of these findings for understanding the relation between personality factors and judgements about future events are discussed.

Keywords

• dispositional optimism
• judgements of future events
• affective states
• adolescents