Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-2011
Publication Source
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Abstract
To promote optimal mental health, is it best to evaluate negative experiences accurately or in a positively biased manner? In an attempt to reconcile inconsistent prior research addressing this question, we predicted that the tendency to form positively biased appraisals of negative experiences may reduce the motive to address those experiences and thereby lead to poorer mental health in the context of negative experiences that are controllable and severe but lead to better mental health in the context of controllable negative experiences that are less severe by promoting positive feelings without invoking serious consequences from unaddressed problems. In 2 longitudinal studies, individuals in new marriages were interviewed separately about their ongoing stressful experiences, and their own appraisals of those experiences were compared with those of the interviewers. Across studies, spouses' tendencies to form positively biased appraisals of their stressful experiences predicted fewer depressive symptoms over the subsequent 4 years among individuals judged to be facing relatively mild experiences but more depressive symptoms among individuals judged to be facing relatively severe experiences. Furthermore, in Study 2, these effects were mediated by changes in those experiences, such that the interaction between the tendency to form positively biased appraisals of stressful experiences and the objectively rated severity of initial levels of those experiences directly predicted changes in those experiences, which in turn accounted for changes in depressive symptoms. These findings suggest that cognitive biases are not inherently positive or negative; their implications for mental health depend on the context in which they occur.
Inclusive pages
415-432
ISBN/ISSN
1939-1315
Document Version
Postprint
Publisher
American Psychological Association
Volume
101
Issue
3
Peer Reviewed
yes
eCommons Citation
O'Mara, Erin M.; McNulty, James K.; and Karney, Benjamin R., "Positively Biased Appraisals in Everyday Life: When Do They Benefit Mental Health and When Do They Harm It?" (2011). Psychology Faculty Publications. 40.
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/psy_fac_pub/40
Comments
The document available for download is the authors' accepted manuscript, provided in compliance with the publisher's policy on self-archiving. To view the version of record, use the DOI provided. Permission documentation is on file.