A healthy dose of realism: The role of optimistic and pessimistic expectations when facing a downward spiral in health

Judith G. Chipperfield, Jeremy M. Hamm, Raymond P. Perry, Patti C. Parker, Joelle C. Ruthig and Frieder R. Lang

Social Science & Medicine, 2019, vol. 232, issue C, 444-452

Abstract: Whether expectations about future health are adaptive or maladaptive in late life likely depends on the extent to which they conform to or defy a future reality of declining health. Our premise was that, when adults face a downward spiral in health, it can be adaptive to realistically expect poorer future health and maladaptive to unrealistically expect good health.

Keywords: Health expectations; Optimism; Pessimism; Depression; Mortality; Longitudinal; Aging (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.08.030

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