Effect of optimism/pessimism attitude on depression and coping strategies

The present study was planned to find out the level of depression and coping strategies among optimists and pessimists. Total sample consisted of 255 optimists and 191 pessimists subjects selected by using quata random sampling technique and were administered individually Optimistic-Pessimistic attitude Scale developed by Prashar (1998), Depression Scale of Karim and Tiwari (1986) and Ways of Coping Questionnaire developed by Folkman and Lazarus (1988). Findings revealed that both the groups differ significantly from each other on both the variables of the study. Findings revealed that Pessimists have significantly higher level of depression than the Optimists subjects. On total Depression and on its dimensions namely, apathy, sleep disturbance, pessimism, fatigability, irritability, social withdrawal and self centeredness, dejected or sadness, self-acquisition, self-harm, social reoccupation and indecisiveness pessimists scored significantly higher mean values as compared to optimists. Optimists were found to have higher tendency of using distancing, seeking social support, planful problem solving and positive reappraisal as a technique of coping strategies than pessimists.