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It found that: (a) beliefs about risk likelihood, beliefs about risk severity, and worry about the risk all made independent contributions to interest in risk reduction (b) unrealistic optimism undermined interest in risk reduction indirectly by decreasing worry and (c) beliefs about risk likelihood and severity were not sufficient to explain the amount of worry expressed about different hazards.īaric, L. The investigation also examined the importance of beliefs and emotions as determinants of self-reported interest in adopting precautions to reduce one's risk. Attempts to account for the amount of bias evoked by different hazards identified perceived controllability, lack of previous experience, and the belief that the problem appears during childhood as factors that tend to increase unrealistic optimism. They showed a significant optimistic bias for 34 of these hazards, consistently considering their own chances to be below average. Management Research: The Journal of the Iberoamerican Academy of Management Emerald Publishing In this study, 100 college students compared their own chances of experiencing 45 different health- and life-threatening problems with the chances of their peers. Originality/value – The paper shows the link between irrational behaviour and mortgage and corporate credit markets in Portugal and Spain and suggests paternalistic policies that should be encouraged. The paper therefore presents a conservative approach to paternalistic measures that policy makers should consider adopting. Practical implications – Because ignoring such biases may simply lead borrowers and financial institutions down a real road to ruin, it is important to discuss paternalistic policies that may mitigate them. Findings – The authors point to evidence and argue that Unrealistic Optimism may well have been at play in the recent behaviour of mortgage and corporate credit markets in Portugal and Spain. Analyses of some relevant variables of the mortgage and corporate credit markets in Portugal and Spain. Design/methodology/approach – Critical review of existing literature on Unrealistic Optimism. The authors propose conservative paternalistic measures. Although the policy and welfare implications of such a widespread phenomenon are vast, they have been largely neglected by policy makers. This bias has important implications in many economic and managerial contexts and the authors present evidence of it. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the meaning of being “unrealistically optimistic”. Purpose – Unrealistic optimism is a well‐documented psychological phenomenon.
Unrealistic optimism. how to#
Unrealistic optimism: what it is and how to deal with it Unrealistic optimism: what it is and how to deal with it