OBJECTIVES Taylor's theory of cognitive adaptation proposes that adjustment depends on the ability to sustain and modify illusions (i.e. unrealistic optimism, exaggerated perceptions of control, and self-aggrandizement) that buffer against threats but also against possible future setbacks. Because the question of whether cancer patients show these illusions has received little attention, the pr...

BACKGROUND Axial Spondyloarthritis (AxSpA) and chronic low back pain are rheumatic diseases that impact patients' health-related quality of life (HRQoL). In other chronic conditions, HRQoL was positively associated with dispositional optimism, a personality trait. The objective was to explore the relationship between optimism and HRQoL in these two diseases. METHOD A cross-sectional study was...

INTRODUCTION: Unrealistic optimism refers to the pervasive tendency of healthy individuals to underestimate their likelihood of future misfortune, including illness. The phenomenon shares a qualitative resemblance with anosognosia, a neurological disorder characterized by a deficient appreciation of manifest current illness or impairment. Unrealistic optimism and anosognosia have been independe...

BACKGROUND Major depression is known to be related to higher cardiovascular mortality. However, epidemiological data regarding dispositional optimism in relation to mortality are scanty. OBJECTIVE To test whether subjects who are optimistic live longer than those who are pessimistic. DESIGN Our analysis formed part of a prospective population-based cohort study in the Netherlands (Arnhem El...

THE AIM The aim of this study is to investigate the correlation between the morning level of serum cortisol and perceptive experience of optimism in a selected group of 60 patients with newly diagnosed cancer who were treated at Mostar University Clinical Hospital during a one-month period. PATIENTS AND METHODS The morning level of serum cortisol was measured in all patients following the ver...