Effects of Optimism 1
Running head: ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IMPROVED BY OPTIMISM
Effects of Optimism and Positive Attitude on Academic Achievement
Noah Weiss
Lincoln Southeast High School
Effects of Optimism 2
Abstract
The correlation between optimism or positive attitude and academic achievement was analyzed
in this study. Sixty-four subjects from Lincoln Southeast High School were given a survey that
measured their optimism and positive attitude. After completion of the survey, the participants
took a short multiple-choice quiz. The survey results indicated a somewhat strong correlation
between optimism or positive attitude and academic achievement, with an r-score of .402. Other
researchers also found similar results, including Seligman (1990), Koizumi (1992), and Wilkins
(2000). A conclusion drawn was that optimism is a partial factor in academic achievement.
Effects of Optimism 3
Effects of Optimism and Positive Attitude on Academic Achievement
By my experiences, optimism and positive attitude seem to make a difference in how a
person thinks and behaves. I decided to do research on a possible correlation between optimism
and academic achievement. My reasoning is that I have always seemed to do better in school
while thinking positively. Additionally, changing a person’s attitude can change how he or she
thinks about work, school, or life in general. My goal in this research is to find out if there is a
correlation between optimism (positive attitude) and academic achievement.
Stoecker (1999) used the Life Orientation Test to attempt to correlate optimism with
grade expectancies. The method used was using this test and hypothetical course outlines. One
group was given an “easy” outline, the other a “difficult” outline. The participants were asked to
predict their final grades in these courses. In the end, this research said that optimism lowers
anxiety but is not related to expectations of grades or grade-point average. Even though this
seems to refute my research question, this source did not deter me from further research.
Koizumi (1992) operationally defined of the term ‘optimism’ was the generalized
expectation of positive events. The research was done on students in grades 3, 5, 7, and 9. They
were given math achievement tests, the Optimism Scale for Students (OSS), and the Scale of
Reasons for Optimism (SRO). The variables used were ability, optimism, sex, and indices such
as grades. They found that optimism was not directly related to academic competence, but was a
second factor. As a result, I feel that optimism can be indirectly related to academic achievement,
and therefore there is more research to be done.
Wallace (2000) emphasized optimism for positive benefits. According to this source,
people tend to rush to a negative judgment, hence restricting themselves. This relates to my
Effects of Optimism 4
research question in the manner of if someone turns negative on a test or other assignment, does
it affect how he or she performs? Another piece of information that was useful from this source
was the author’s affirmation that one controls an event by his or her attitude toward it. As a
result, I have reason to believe that thinking positively in school will improve performance.
Seligman (1990) believed that optimism is very influential on a person’s life. According
to him, optimists see failure as a setback or a roadblock, but not the end of the line. He also said
that failure usually leads to temporary depression, but optimists have an easier time with it.
Additionally, it says that optimism or pessimism is developed in the elementary school or middle
school years. According to this research, optimists did better in college than others did. This
research was quite helpful to me for information.
Snyder (2001) used the expectancy-value theory to explain goals versus expectancy.
According to him, optimists are confident when faced with challenges. Optimism helps people in
life, such as coping skills, acceptance, health, humor, etc. This source also said that more
optimism demotes psychological distress at the end of a college semester. This source seemed to
be supportive of my hypothesis.
Myers and Diener (1995) emphasized happiness in a study. According to them, happy
people are less self-focused, less abusive, and more sociable, among other assets. In addition,
school performance was found to be improved through optimism and empowerment. It had some
other information, but it was still a little irrelevant in other respects to my research.
The research that was found was useful for this study, but it had some deficiencies.
Seligman (1991) and Stoecker (1999) seemed to disagree on what effects optimism had;
Seligman (1991) believed optimism was a factor in improvements, but Stoecker (1999) saw no
correlation. In addition, none of these studies appeared to be done on high school students, which
Effects of Optimism 5
was my intended sampling for the project. Few sources emphasized a relationship between
competence and achievement and optimism. As a result, my research question is to investigate if
optimism is positively correlated to academic achievement.
Method
Participants
Sixty-four students from Lincoln Southeast High School participated (three classrooms).
The classes were chosen at random from a hat, and all three classes ended up being regular (not
differentiated or special-education) classes. The ages of the participants were from 14 to 17, and
they were in grades 9, 10, and 11.
Materials
The survey and quiz (see appendix A) were the materials used. The survey was a series of
questions based on a one-to-five scale rating of several related subjects to optimism, as well as
several demographic questions. Attached to the survey (see appendix A) were two multiplechoice quizzes over general topics in school, the first being relatively difficult and the second
being relatively easy.
Procedure
The survey-and-quiz packet (see appendix A) was given to all participants in the room.
Then, I read my informed consent aloud to the participants, and other basic instructions. I gave
them the instructions for the survey part and gave them 5 minutes to complete it. I instructed
them not to turn to the quiz portion until I said so. After all participants had completed the
surveys, I instructed them to turn to the quiz and complete it, and then hand it in to me when
completed.
Effects of Optimism 6
Results
The demographics of the survey are as follows. There were a total of 64 participants,
consisting of 30 male and 34 female subjects. The ages ranged from 14 to 17, with grades 9-11.
One teacher also volunteered to take the survey. Thirty-five (35) subjects did not take a
differentiated or AP class when offered in general. Twenty (20) of the subjects do take AP or
differentiated classes when offered, and nine subjects gave ambiguous answers. These
demographics are summarized in Figure 1 below.
Gender
Male
Female
Number of Subjects
30
34
Age of Subjects
14
15
16
17
Other
Number of Subjects
10
19
10
14
1
Grade Level
9
10
11
12 and Teacher
Subjects
28
4
31
1
Figure 1: A general demographics table of the subjects.
As Figure 2 shows, the correlation between optimism and test scores was approximately
.40. This means it is a somewhat strong positive correlation. However, I was not able to attain a p
score for the correlation. The scatter plot (Figure 3, next page) indicates this correlation.
However, the correlation between pessimism and test scores (not shown in the figures) was only
-.2, which indicates a weak negative correlation.
Correlation
Test Score
Optimism Score
Test Score
1
N/A
0.40
1
Optimism Score
Figure 2: A somewhat strong correlation between
optimism and test scores.
Effects of Optimism 7
Test Scores
Optimism vs. Test Scores
20
Figure 3: The scatter plot correlating
optimism scores to test scores.
15
10
5
0
0
5
10
15
20
25
Optimism Scores
Using an analysis of variance, I found differences between grade and test scores, and
grade level and optimism scores. For the grade, the F value was approximately 21.78, indicating
a significance, as if the grade level can affect the test scores. This was true, as the data analysis
indicated that the students in 11th grade performed better on the quiz than the ninth graders.
Likewise, the F-score for grade level-versus-optimism was 314.20. The p values of these F
values were .000008 and 6.52E-36, respectively, showing obvious statistical significance. This
may mean that the optimism could also be related to grade or age.
Discussion
This study investigated the correlation between optimism and academic achievement. My
hypothesis was a positive correlation, but I did not hypothesize on how strong the correlation
was. According to some of the literature that was reviewed, they predicted that optimism was not
a factor at all for academic achievement, such as Stoecker (1999). Others, such as Koizumi
(1992) or Carver & Scheier (Snyder, 2001), hypothesized that it was a second factor, and a few,
including Seligman (1990) and Wallace (2000) thought that it didn’t affect academic
achievement specifically, but affected other achievements in a positive correlation.
The data indicates that optimism is a secondary factor in the academic achievement. The
grade level seemed to have more of an effect on the test scores (the students in 11th grade
Effects of Optimism 8
performed better on the test than the students in ninth grade), but that could be a confounding
variable with the study. The optimism scores were generally higher with higher test scores,
although there were only a few subjects who got the calculus question (see Appendix A) correct,
so the results may have changed if I threw that question out or changed the value of each
question. This seems to relate to the OSS (Koizumi, 1992), who also predicted that optimism is a
“second factor”, and likewise said that optimism is not related to academic competence.
Another major finding was that the correlation between takers of diff/AP classes and their
optimism scores was a weak positive correlation. I thought originally that the students in more
difficult classes would be motivated to do better and/or have a positive attitude about learning
and achieving. The correlation score was only .259. However, this again is one of the findings of
Koizumi (1992). However, the negative correlation between pessimism and diff/AP class takers
was almost non-existent, only -.0559.
A finding that did not surprise me was that the higher optimism scores generally
answered all the questions. Some of the lower optimism scores appeared to be randomly
guessing, even on the easier test. That was one of the reasons why the harder test was
administered first; it tests whether the subject has optimism and does not feel that the whole test
will be difficult. According to Seligman (1990), the reason why is that a difficulty is simply a
setback to an optimist.
Some confounding variables existed in this study. In the first class that I surveyed, I did
not standardize the process well, and the subjects conferred on certain questions of the quiz,
which may give untrue results. Likewise, some questions were left blank on certain surveys,
which make it difficult to analyze the data, or perhaps answers were given dishonestly. An
important confounding variable is that the subjects were in grades 9-11, none from grade 12. As
Effects of Optimism 9
a result, many of them knew nothing about some of the questions on the “hard” quiz. However, I
did let them know that there is no penalty for guessing, and informed them that even if they were
clueless, they had a 25% chance of getting the question correct. My reasoning was that the
optimists would be optimistic enough to eliminate impossible distracters and then use educated
guessing. The fact that I had no subjects from the twelfth grade also is a confounding variable;
their results would probably have changed my survey’s results.
If
future psychologists
were to
research
the relationship
between positive
attitude/optimism and academic achievement, more research should be done on how optimism
affects people. The library research that I did was not consistent, since some sources disproved
the relationship, others saw a possible relationship, and others gave other information. A more
coherent survey or test that is more representative of “optimism” and “academic achievement”
would also help the research, as the survey and quizzes that I administered could probably be
improved to more accurately reflect “positive attitude” and “academic achievement”, using
different types of questions and making a quiz that ninth graders could answer. Likewise, the
research may be more effective if restricted to one type of class (high level, regular, or specialeducation).
As a result of this study, I found that optimism is a somewhat important factor about
academic achievement. The general trend was that the older and more optimistic subjects had
better quiz scores in this survey. However, there is still doubt about the effects of optimism on
academic achievement.
Effects of Optimism 10
References
Koizumi, R. (1992). The relationship between perceived attainment and optimism, and academic
achievement and motivation. Japanese Psychological Research, 34, 1-9.
Myers, D. & Diener, E. (1995). Who is happy. American Psychological Society, 6, 10-19.
Seligman, M. (1991). Learned optimism. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Snyder, C.R., Lopez, S.J. (Eds.) (2001). Handbook of Positive Psychology. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Stoecker, J. (1999). Optimism and grade expectancies. Psychological Reports, 84, 873-879.
Wallace, W. (2000). Just say ‘yes’. Futurist, 34, 68-69.
Effects of Optimism 11
Appendix A
Informed Consent: My name is Noah Weiss. You are about to participate in a psychological
experiment that will attempt to correlate optimism and academic achievement. There are no
known risks to this experiment. This will not affect your grade in any class. Your results will
remain confidential and anonymous, and you may stop taking this survey at any time by handing
in this survey to the administrator of the survey. Please try to answer all questions honestly. To
request information on the results of this experiment, please contact Noah Weiss at
noah121weiss@netscape.net or ask in Mr. McEntarffer’s classroom (H-101).
Effects of Optimism 12
Survey: Please answer all questions honestly. If you do not wish to answer a question, you are
not required to.
1) What is your gender? Circle one: Male
Female
2) What grade are you in? Circle one:
9
10
11
12
3) What is your age?
4) Do you usually take an AP or differentiated class if one is offered? Please explain.
(Rate the following questions on a 1-5 scale as honestly as possible. Omit any questions you are
not comfortable answering.)
1
2
3
4
5
Very irrelevant Somewhat irrelevant
Neutral
Somewhat relevant
Very relevant
1) I feel confident going into a test (in any class).
Response to Question 1:
1
2) If I do poorly on an assignment or test, I feel badly about myself.
Response to Question 2:
1
3) I keep trying my best even when something is difficult for me.
Response to Question 3:
1
4) I feel anxious in general.
Response to Question 4:
1
5) I feel confident about challenges.
Response to Question 5:
1
6) I give up easily on something that is difficult.
Response to Question 6:
1
7) I feel good about success.
Response to Question 7:
1
8) I have a negative way of thinking.
Response to Question 8:
1
9) I feel that good things can come out of any situation.
Response to Question 9:
1
10) I tend to discount success when it happens.
Response to Question 10:
1
2
3
4
5
2
3
4
5
2
3
4
5
2
3
4
5
2
3
4
5
2
3
4
5
2
3
4
5
2
3
4
5
2
3
4
5
2
3
4
5
STOP. Do not continue until the survey administrator instructs
you to do so.
Effects of Optimism 13
QUIZ.
Choose the best answer to each question. Answer all questions, even if you don’t
know the answer.
1) What is the integral of the graph (x + 1) between the points 2 and 5?
(a) 0
(b) 43/2
(c) 9
(d) Nonexistent
2) What is semantic encoding?
(a) A code of language and semantics
(b) I don’t know!
(c) Processing information through meaning
(d) Processing information through the brain
3) What does the Spanish phrase “se me hace que…” mean in English?
(a) It seems to me that…
(b) I imagine that…
(c) Keep in mind that…
(d) It’s worth it…
4) In mathematics, what is an asymptote?
(a) A specific value of a number
(b) Infinity
(c) An imaginary number
(d) A value of x or y to which values are not possible
5) What is the equation that corresponds to Newton’s second law of motion?
(a) E = m c^2
(b) F = m a
(c) Q = m c (delta T)
(d) dy/dx = (pi) d
6) Which of the following words does not have a negative meaning?
(a) disdain
(b) contempt
(c) enthralled
(d) inept
7) In what decade did urban population outnumber rural population in the USA for the first
time?
(a) The 1920s
(b) The 1880s
(c) The 1860s
(d) The 2000s
Please turn the page.
Effects of Optimism 14
QUIZ II. Choose the best answer to each question. Answer all questions, even if you
don’t know the answer.
1) Which of the following is NOT a prime number?
(a) 2
(b) 11
(c) 1
(d) 17
2) Why does studying for tests help you do better?
(a) Because it rehearses the information
(b) Because the teacher wants you to
(c) Because it gives you more confidence
(d) Because the reason is unknown
3) Which of the following is the closest meaning in English to the Spanish word
“interesante”?
(a) entertaining
(b) Internet
(c) interstate
(d) interesting
4) How many sides does a triangle have?
(a) 3
(b) 4
(c) 5
(d) 6
5) Which of the following statements is true?
(a) Like charges attract each other.
(b) Opposite charges attract and likes repel.
(c) An electromagnet is permanent under normal circumstances.
(d) None of the above.
6) Which of the following words is misspelled?
(a) Spelling
(b) Hoarse
(c) Spatial
(d) Underastimeta
7) What year did the United States become independent from Great Britain?
(a) 2003
(b) 1776
(c) 1
(d) Never
Please hand in this packet to the administrator when finished. Thank you for participating.