

Research has found that its coded into the brain’s frontal lobe, which means it’s theoretically useful for the survival of humanity.“On the positive side of optimism bias, all things being equal, optimists live longer and are healthier,” says Tarot. Optimism bias could be an evolutionary mechanism that we’ve developed over time. “Regardless of gender, age, or where you live, the things you tend to be optimistic about are the things you care about like relationships and professional success,” Sharot explains. Most of us overestimate the potential of everything ever. You tend to believe you have control over your life, and you tend to believe you have more control than you actually do. “There are a few reasons for optimism bias,” Sharot explains to VICE.
Optimism psychology driver#
Do you think your relationship will be the one to last? Are you fairly sure you’re not going to get skin cancer, even though you know multiple people who’ve been diagnosed? Do you, like 90 percent of people, believe yourself to be a better-than-average driver who is more skilled at manoeuvring their vehicle at dangerously high speeds? The maths doesn’t quite add up, and that’s how optimism bias gets us. Sure, this is a good thing, but it also gives way to that ‘it won’t happen to me’ attitude. Her underlying idea is that many of the seemingly unbiased decisions we make every day are actually influenced by the fact that we think positively about the future. An academic named Tali Sharot brought the theory of optimism bias into popular consciousness.
