Dispositional Optimism and Disaster Resilience: A natural experiment from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

Krisztina Gero, Jun Aida, Kokoro Shirai, Katsunori Kondo and Ichiro Kawachi

Social Science & Medicine, 2021, vol. 273, issue C

Abstract: Dispositional optimism – the general belief that good things will happen – is considered a key asset for the preservation of mental health after a traumatic life event. However, it has been hypothesized that in extreme situations such as major disasters where positive expectations cannot overcome the grim reality on the ground, being optimistic might be a disadvantage. To test this mismatch hypothesis, this study explores whether higher pre-disaster dispositional optimism is associated with higher posttraumatic stress (PTS) and depressive symptoms among individuals who experienced the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami.

Keywords: Disasters; Optimism; Hope; Posttraumatic stress disorder; Depressive symptoms (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:socmed:v:273:y:2021:i:c:s027795362100109x

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DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113777

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