If you are here at Positive Thinking Day, you are likely an optimist or working to be more optimistic, so I don’t need to convince you about the benefits of optimism. However, as a positive psychologist, I think it is pretty neat that research is catching up with what we (optimists) have known for a long time - positive thinking is good for us! There is a lot of research to support the idea that positive thinking can help improve mood, increase happiness, reduce pain, enhance immune function, and boost productivity. Now there is evidence that optimism can improve your financial situation.
An article from Science Daily suggests that positive thinking (up to a point) makes good financial sense. According to this article, new research from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business indicates that optimistic people tend to make good financial decisions and show prudent financial behaviors. The researchers found that optimists work longer hours, save more money, tend to pay their credit cards balances on time, plan to work longer, and believe their income will grow. I am not surprised by these findings. I believe that optimism helps in every area of life.
I was a bit surprised that this research also suggests that too much optimism may be associated with poor financial decisions. According to the Duke study, the “extreme optimists” were more likely to work fewer hours, save less money, and not pay their credit card balances regularly.
I find the concept of “extreme optimism” interesting. What do you think? Can a person be too optimistic? Do you think that you are too optimistic?
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