Abstract
The Life Attitudes Scale (LAS) was designed to measure tragic optimism (TO)—a distinct type of optimism that could generate hopeless hope even in dire situations according to existential positive psychology (PP 2.0). This study explains why only a faith-based TO could serve as a buffer against suffering at the Nazi death camps as well as the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In study 1, the results showed that the factorial structure of a 15-item LAS-Brief (LAS-B), which is a short measure of TO, replicated the original structure of the 32-item long version. The five factors (i.e., affirmation, acceptance, courage, faith, and self-transcendence) provided a good data model fit statistics for LAS-B; the measure had adequate-to-strong internal and latent construct reliability estimates. In study 2, the buffering effect of TO on the association between suffering experiences during COVID-19 and life satisfaction in adults was examined. The results of the studies were consistent with our hypothesis that TO as measured by LAS-B serves as a buffer against the impact of COVID-19 suffering on life satisfaction.
Highlights
“Hope springs eternal in the human breast,” and is as necessary to life as the act of breathing— Lewis Latimer
In the context of the pandemic, when bad things keep on happening from the global spread of the virus, and from the increasing number of people losing their jobs and having difficulty to provide for their family, is it still possible for people to expect good things to happen most of the time? The global pandemic has lasted more than a year; with the threat of newfound variant strains of the virus spreading exponentially, is it possible for people to dismiss it as a transient incident only limited to a specific place, according to optimistic attribution style? when people are dying of COVID-19 in the intensive care unit (ICU), is it still possible for these patients to maintain hope based on self-efficacy?
The findings from the first confirmatory factor analysis showed that the measurement model, which structured each of the 32 items as indicators of the five latent constructs, yielded poor-to-adequate data model fit statistics—χ 2 = 1,313.90, df = 454, p < 0.001, CFI = 0.81, TLI = 0.79, RMSEA (95% confidence interval [CI]) = 0.072 (0.068, 0.077)
Summary
“Hope springs eternal in the human breast,” and is as necessary to life as the act of breathing— Lewis Latimer. The explanatory style model posits that optimism/pessimism is based on the tendencies of an individual to attribute the causes of events on three dimensions, namely, internality, stability, and globality. An individual who endorses an optimistic explanatory style would perceive a negative event as (i) externally caused (vs internal), (ii) unstable in that the situation is temporary (vs stable), and (iii) relevant in a specific context (vs global). The global pandemic has lasted more than a year; with the threat of newfound variant strains of the virus spreading exponentially, is it possible for people to dismiss it as a transient incident only limited to a specific place, according to optimistic attribution style? In the context of the pandemic, when bad things keep on happening from the global spread of the virus, and from the increasing number of people losing their jobs and having difficulty to provide for their family, is it still possible for people to expect good things to happen most of the time? The global pandemic has lasted more than a year; with the threat of newfound variant strains of the virus spreading exponentially, is it possible for people to dismiss it as a transient incident only limited to a specific place, according to optimistic attribution style? when people are dying of COVID-19 in the intensive care unit (ICU), is it still possible for these patients to maintain hope based on self-efficacy?
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
