Unrealistic Parental Optimism

Abstract

Unrealistic optimism is considered as an optimism bias based on the individual's motives of self-exaggeration and protection and is defined as evaluating oneself more positively than others. An important example of nurturing one's own self through the concept of unrealistic optimism is the parent-child relationship. The parent's having unrealistically positive perceptions about his/her child is reported to play an important role in the parenting experience, nourishing the parent's own self and changing the interaction with the child. An individual's placing parenting at the center of their life is not only limited to seeing themselves as better than they are, but can also affect their evaluations of their child. Unrealistic parental optimism can lead to disappointment, inappropriate persistence and unpreparedness for personal threats. The expectations created by the evolutionarily adaptive ability to look on the bright side of events and the disappointments that may be experienced in line with these expectations are significant for psychological science to be examined in an important context such as child rearing. This review focuses on the motives of parents to exhibit unrealistic parental optimism, what kind of behaviors they exhibit in this context and the outcomes of these behaviors on children.

Keywords

• Unrealistic optimism
• optimistic bias
• self-deception

Gerçekçi Olmayan Ebeveyn İyimserliği

Öz

Gerçekçi olmayan iyimserlik, bireyin kendini abartma, koruma güdülerine dayanan bir iyimserlik yanlılığı olarak ele alınmakta ve kendini diğerlerinden daha olumlu değerlendirmesi olarak tanımlanmaktadır. Gerçekçi olmayan iyimserlik kavramı aracılığıyla bireyin kendi benliğini beslemesinin önemli bir örneği ebeveyn çocuk ilişkisi olarak gösterilmektedir. Ebeveynin çocuğu ile ilgili gerçekçi olmayan olumlu algılara sahip olmasının ebeveynlik deneyiminde önemli bir rol oynadığı, ebeveynin kendi benliğini beslediği ve çocukla etkileşimini değiştirebildiği bildirilmektedir. Bireyin ebeveynliğini hayatının merkezine alması yalnızca kendisini olduğundan iyi görmesiyle sınırlı kalmayıp çocuğu hakkındaki değerlendirmelerini de etkileyebilmektedir. Gerçekçi olmayan ebeveyn iyimserliğinin hayal kırıklığına, uygun olmayan ısrarcılığa ve kişisel tehditlere hazırlıksız olmaya yol açtığı bildirilmektedir. Evrimsel olarak adaptif olan olaylara iyi yönünden bakabilme yetisinin kişide oluşturduğu beklentiler ve bu beklentiler doğrultusunda da yaşayabileceği hayal kırıklıklarının çocuk yetiştirme gibi önemli bir bağlamda da incelenmesi psikoloji bilimi için önemli bulunmaktadır. Bu derleme çalışmasında, anne babaların gerçekçi olmayan ebeveyn iyimserliği sergileme nedenleri, bu bağlamda ne tür davranışlar gösterdikleri ve bu davranışlarının çocuklar üzerindeki çıktıları ele alınmıştır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Gerçekçi olmayan iyimserlik
• öz aldatmaca
• iyiymserlik yanlılığı

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