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Bracing for the Worst: Severity, Testing, and Feedback Timing as Moderators of the Optimistic Bias

University of Florida, ktaylor{at}nervm.nerdc.ufl.edu

James A. Shepperd

University of Florida, shepperd{at}psych.ufl.edu

People are remarkably optimistic in their personal predictions. Hozwver, people occasionally will be pessimistic, bracing themselves for negative feedback, if they anticipate that their optimistic out-look might be challenged. The authors examined the effects of event severity, testing, and feedback timing on personal predictions. Participants believed they would or would not be tested for a medical condition with or without severe consequences. At the beginning of the experiment, participants who anticipated being tested believed they would receive their test results in 3 to 4 weeks. At the end of the experiment, these participants learned that they would receive their test results in anew moments. As predicted, participants who were tested were most pessimistic when anticipating immediate feedback for a deficiency with severe consequences. Further analyses revealed that participants' personal predictions were related to their affect.

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