Positive life-event expectancies are associated with greater optimism, well-being and emotional intelligence

Abstract

Positive thinking is connected to mental health and recovery from disease. Adopting the expectancy theory, the aim of this cross-sectional research was to test the hypothesis that individuals holding more positive life-event expectancies score lower on pessimism and higher on optimism, well-being, emotional intelligence and life satisfaction in contrast to those holding negative life expectancies. Volunteers (n = 254) evaluated five life-scenarios having either positive or negative outcomes and completed four online questionnaires. The ratio of positive and negative expectancies was used for grouping. Results revealed that people holding positive life-event expectancies reported greater well-being, optimism, and emotional intelligence, and lesser pessimism than respondents who held negative life-event expectancies. After repeating the test separately for two subgroups having weak or strong positive life-event expectancies, the differences, in all dependent measures, either vanished or became more robust, respectively. The results suggest that strong positive life-event expectancies are associated with greater well-being, optimism, emotional intelligence, and lower pessimism.