Abstract
Optimism biases denote the tendency to see future desirable events as being more likely to happen to oneself than undesirable events. Such biases are important for mental health and may extend to other individuals or social groups (social optimism biases). However, little is known about whether social optimism biases relate to brain structure. Using sparse canonical correlation analysis, we associated cortical thickness (assessed by magnetic resonance imaging) with measures of social and personal optimism bias, trait optimism and related concepts. We identified a defensive self-enhancement dimension that associated significantly and reliably with the cortical thickness of the insula and inferior frontal cortex. This self-enhancement dimension included unfavorable biases toward unpopular out-groups and indicators of personal optimism and pessimism. A shared biological substrate underlying future expectancies that subserves the promotion of the self and the denigration of unpopular out-groups may render society-wide efforts to counteract stereotyping particularly difficult: such efforts may hinder the establishment of adaptive personal optimism biases.
Highlights
Optimism bias can be defined as the tendency to expect positive outcomes to be more likely than negative outcomes (Krizan and Windschitl, 2007; Lench and Ditto, 2008; Lench and Bench, 2012; Dricu et al, 2018)
Optimism biases denote the tendency to see future desirable events as being more likely to happen to oneself than undesirable events. Such biases are important for mental health and may extend to other individuals or social groups
Little is known about whether social optimism biases relate to brain structure
Summary
Optimism bias can be defined as the tendency to expect positive outcomes to be more likely than negative outcomes (Krizan and Windschitl, 2007; Lench and Ditto, 2008; Lench and Bench, 2012; Dricu et al, 2018). Most people display exaggerated optimism about their own future. This self-centered overoptimism has been termed optimism bias in the literature (Windschitl and Stuart, 2015) and has been. PT suggested as a prerequisite for mental health (Trimmer, 2016). Such unrealistic optimism I extends toward in-groups and individuals that one evaluates positively or identifies with (we refer to this R extension of optimism toward others as social optimism bias). An individual’s M readiness to display (social) optimism bias is likely influenced by dispositional optimism, a relatively stable disposition of having an optimistic yet not necessarily unrealistic life orientation
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