unrealistic optimism:
(1) Lack of personal experience with the problem
Someone who has never seen a COPD patient lugging around an oxygen tank
or a laryngeal cancer patient with a tracheostomy who continues to smoke.
Sometimes it can happen the other way also like my uncle had diabetes and lost his limb and my aunt had a diabetes and had to go on dialysis. so everyone who has diabetes will get these, so why bother?
(2) The belief that the problem is preventable by individual action
I went home and took a shower immediately after having sex with a stranger prostitute so I should not be getting STD or HIV. you would be surprised that the president Of South Africa Jacob Zuma exactly this one time
(3) The belief that if the problem has not yet appeared, it will not appear in the future.
Are some obese patients who keep telling themselves as well as the doctors” everyone in my home is Big built” and none of them had Diabetes so far
(4) The belief that the problem is infrequent.
So many millions drink and smoke how many get cancer? so I will continue to smoke and drink
These factors suggest that perception of own risk is not a rational process
In an attempt to explain why individuals’ assessment of their risk may go wrong,
and why people are unrealistically optimistic, Weinstein (1983) argued that individuals
show selective focus. He claimed that individuals ignore their own risk-increasing
behaviour (‘I may not always practise safe sex but that’s not important’) and focus
primarily on their risk-reducing behaviour (‘but at least I don’t inject drugs’). He also
argues that this selectivity is compounded by egocentrism; individuals tend to ignore
others’ risk-decreasing behaviour (‘my friends all practise safe sex but that’s irrelevant’).
Therefore, an individual may be unrealistically optimistic if they focus on the times they
use condoms when assessing their own risk and ignore the times they do not and, in
addition, focus on the times that others around them do not practise safe sex and ignore
the times that they do.
In one study, subjects were required to focus on either their risk-increasing (‘unsafe
sex’) or their risk-decreasing behaviour (‘safe sex’). The effect of this on their unrealistic
optimism for risk of HIV was examined (Hoppe and Ogden 1996). Heterosexual subjects
were asked to complete a questionnaire concerning their beliefs about HIV and their
HEALTH BELIEFS 21
Page 21 Black blue
Page 21 Black blue
sexual behaviour. Subjects were allocated to either the risk-increasing or risk-decreasing
condition. Subjects in the risk-increasing condition were asked to complete questions
such as ‘since being sexually active how often have you asked about your partners’ HIV
status?’ It was assumed that only a few subjects would be able to answer that they had
done this frequently, thus making them feel more at risk. Subjects in the risk-decreasing
condition were asked questions such as ‘since being sexually active how often have you
tried to select your partners carefully?’ It was believed that most subjects would answer
that they did this, making them feel less at risk. The results showed that focusing on riskdecreasing
factors increased optimism by increasing perceptions of others’ risk. Therefore,
by encouraging the subjects to focus on their own healthy behaviour (‘I select my
partners carefully’), they felt more unrealistically optimistic and rated themselves as less
at risk compared with those who they perceived as being more at risk.
(1) Lack of personal experience with the problem
Someone who has never seen a COPD patient lugging around an oxygen tank
or a laryngeal cancer patient with a tracheostomy who continues to smoke.
Sometimes it can happen the other way also like my uncle had diabetes and lost his limb and my aunt had a diabetes and had to go on dialysis. so everyone who has diabetes will get these, so why bother?
(2) The belief that the problem is preventable by individual action
I went home and took a shower immediately after having sex with a stranger prostitute so I should not be getting STD or HIV. you would be surprised that the president Of South Africa Jacob Zuma exactly this one time
(3) The belief that if the problem has not yet appeared, it will not appear in the future.
Are some obese patients who keep telling themselves as well as the doctors” everyone in my home is Big built” and none of them had Diabetes so far
(4) The belief that the problem is infrequent.
So many millions drink and smoke how many get cancer? so I will continue to smoke and drink
These factors suggest that perception of own risk is not a rational process
In an attempt to explain why individuals’ assessment of their risk may go wrong,
and why people are unrealistically optimistic, Weinstein (1983) argued that individuals
show selective focus. He claimed that individuals ignore their own risk-increasing
behaviour (‘I may not always practise safe sex but that’s not important’) and focus
primarily on their risk-reducing behaviour (‘but at least I don’t inject drugs’). He also
argues that this selectivity is compounded by egocentrism; individuals tend to ignore
others’ risk-decreasing behaviour (‘my friends all practise safe sex but that’s irrelevant’).
Therefore, an individual may be unrealistically optimistic if they focus on the times they
use condoms when assessing their own risk and ignore the times they do not and, in
addition, focus on the times that others around them do not practise safe sex and ignore
the times that they do.
In one study, subjects were required to focus on either their risk-increasing (‘unsafe
sex’) or their risk-decreasing behaviour (‘safe sex’). The effect of this on their unrealistic
optimism for risk of HIV was examined (Hoppe and Ogden 1996). Heterosexual subjects
were asked to complete a questionnaire concerning their beliefs about HIV and their
HEALTH BELIEFS 21
Page 21 Black blue
Page 21 Black blue
sexual behaviour. Subjects were allocated to either the risk-increasing or risk-decreasing
condition. Subjects in the risk-increasing condition were asked to complete questions
such as ‘since being sexually active how often have you asked about your partners’ HIV
status?’ It was assumed that only a few subjects would be able to answer that they had
done this frequently, thus making them feel more at risk. Subjects in the risk-decreasing
condition were asked questions such as ‘since being sexually active how often have you
tried to select your partners carefully?’ It was believed that most subjects would answer
that they did this, making them feel less at risk. The results showed that focusing on riskdecreasing
factors increased optimism by increasing perceptions of others’ risk. Therefore,
by encouraging the subjects to focus on their own healthy behaviour (‘I select my
partners carefully’), they felt more unrealistically optimistic and rated themselves as less
at risk compared with those who they perceived as being more at risk.
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