![]() Less stress also reduces the likelihood of mental distress, a common side effect of striving. Why? Optimism appears to fuel our efforts in achieving personal goals, and also improves the overall quality of our experiences while doing so, by increasing happiness and reducing stress. In other words, the optimism seemed to fuel resilience in the face of failure. Medical students who were optimistic, but did not match, did not demonstrate greater levels of distress. The study also refuted a common misbelief about optimism-that if I’m too optimistic and don’t get what I want, I will be even more devastated. The researchers found that high optimism of matching with their top choice resulted in higher levels of happiness and lower levels of stress during the process leading up to the match decisions, as well as a greater likelihood that they matched with their top choice. Over 50% of participants matched with their top-ranked program and 2% of participants did not match at all. The day after Match Day, once participants found out which medical residency, if any, they’d been matched to, they received another survey assessing their happiness and stress levels. Two weeks before Match Day, researchers surveyed participants on several aspects of the matching process, such as their happiness and stress levels, their perceived likelihood of matching with their choices, and their anticipated level of happiness if they got into the program they ranked first. The 182 participants first reported their ranked list of residency programs. Where medical students receive their residency training can impact the trajectory of their medical career, which makes it a very important and often stressful culminating event after four years of rigorous study. ![]() In the second study, researchers used the context of the highly anticipated Match Day, a day when fourth-year medical students find out which hospitals they have been paired with for their residency. ![]() This finding highlights that it’s not just optimism that drives effort and results, but unflappable optimism that holds steady over a period of time. If students lowered their expectations the day before the exam, they’d study less and get a worse grade. Greater optimism two weeks prior to the exam predicted more study hours, greater overall satisfaction with the quality of their studying, and a better grade on the exam. Indeed, they found that there is a likely connection between optimism and effort. Two days after taking the exam, participants reported on the actual grade they received, as well as their emotional response. One day before the exam, participants were surveyed again about their expected grade and their study habits leading up to the exam. In the first study, over a thousand undergraduates completed a survey two weeks before taking their first psychology exam, which assessed their anticipated grade and their emotions about the exam. Researchers Heather Lench and Zari Carpenter explored the benefits of optimism using two separate studies. Be curious about others, yourself, and the world this month
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