Many prominent theorists have argued that accurate perceptions of the self, the world, and the future are essential for mental health. Yet considerable research evidence suggests that overly positive selfevaluations, exaggerated perceptions of control or mastery, and unrealistic optimism are characteristic of normal human thought. Moreover, these illusions appear to promote other criteria of mental health, including the ability to care about others, the ability to be happy or contented, and the ability to engage in productive and creative work. These strategies may succeed, in large part, because both the social world and cognitive-processing mechanisms impose niters on incoming information that distort it in a positive direction; negative information may be isolated and represented in as unthreatening a manner as possible. These positive illusions may be especially useful when an individual receives negative feedback or is otherwise threatened and may be especially adaptive under these circumstances. Decades of psychological wisdom have established contact with reality as a hallmark of mental health. In this view, the well-adjusted person is thought to engage in accurate reality testing, whereas the individual whose vision is clouded by illusion is regarded as vulnerable to, if not already a victim of, mental illness. Despite its plausibility, this viewpoint is increasingly difficult to maintain (cf. Lazarus, 1983). A substantial amount of research testifies to the prevalence of illusion in normal human cognition (see Fiske& Taylor, 1984;Greenwald, 1980; Nisbett & Ross, 1980; Sackeim, 1983; Taylor, 1983). Moreover, these illusions often involve central aspects of the self and the environment and, therefore, cannot be dismissed as inconsequential. In this article, we review research suggesting that certain illusions may be adaptive for mental health and well-being. In particular, we examine evidence that a set of interrelated positive illusions—namely, unrealistically positive self-evaluations, exaggerated perceptions of control or mastery, and unrealistic optimism—can serve a wide variety of cognitive, affective, and social functions. We also attempt to resolve the following para

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Illusion and well-being: a social psychological perspective on mental health

In this chapter a theory of motivation and emotion developed from an attributional perspective is presented Before undertaking this central task, it might be beneficial to review the progression of the book In Chapter 1 it was suggested that causal attributions have been prevalent throughout history and in disparate cultures Studies reviewed in Chapter 2 revealed a large number of causal ascriptions within motivational domains, and different ascriptions in disparate domains Yet some attributions, particularly ability and effort in the achievement area, dominate causal thinking To compare and contrast causes such as ability and effort, their common denominators or shared properties were identified Three causal dimensions, examined in Chapter 3, are locus, stability, and controllability, with intentionality and globality as other possible causal properties As documented in Chapter 4, the perceived stability of a cause influences the subjective probability of success following a previous success or failure; causes perceived as enduring increase the certainty that the prior outcome will be repeated in the future And all the causal dimensions, as well as the outcome of an activity and specific causes, influence the emotions experienced after attainment or nonattainment of a goal The affects linked to causal dimensions include pride (with locus), hopelessness and resignation (with stability), and anger, gratitude, guilt, pity, and shame (with controllability)

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An attributional theory of achievement motivation and emotion.

It is proposed that motivation may affect reasoning through reliance on a biased set of cognitive processes—that is, strategies for accessing, constructing, and evaluating beliefs. The motivation to be accurate enhances use of those beliefs and strategies that are considered most appropriate, whereas the motivation to arrive at particular conclusions enhances use of those that are considered most likely to yield the desired conclusion. There is considerable evidence that people are more likely to arrive at conclusions that they want to arrive at, but their ability to do so is constrained by their ability to construct seemingly reasonable justifications for these conclusions. These ideas can account for a wide variety of research concerned with motivated reasoning. The notion that goals or motives affect reasoning has a long and controversial history in social psychology. The propositions that motives may affect perceptions (Erdelyi, 1974), attitudes (Festinger, 1957), and attributions (Heider, 1958) have been put forth by some psychologists and challenged by others. Although early researchers and theorists took it for granted that motivation may cause people to make self-serving attributions and permit them to believe what they want to believe because they want to believe it, this view, and the research used to uphold it, came under concentrated criticism in the 1970s. The major and most damaging criticism of the motivational view was that all research purported to demonstrate motivated reasoning could be reinterpreted in entirely cognitive, nonmotivational terms (Miller & Ross, 1975; Nisbett & Ross, 1980). Thus people could draw self-serving conclusions not because they wanted to but because these conclusions seemed more plausible, given their prior beliefs and expectancies. Because both cognitive and motivational accounts could be generated for any empirical study, some theorists argued that the hot versus cold cognition controversy could not be solved, at least in the attribution paradigm (Ross & Fletcher, 1985; Tetlock & Levi, 1982). One reason for the persistence of this controversy lies in the failure of researchers to explore the mechanisms underlying motivated reasoning. Recently, several authors have attempted to rectify this neglect (Kruglanski & Freund, 1983; Kunda, 1987; Pyszczynski & Greenberg, 1987; Sorrentino & Higgins, 1986). All these authors share a view of motivation as having its effects through cognitive processes: People rely on cognitive processes and representations to arrive at their desired conclusions, but motivation plays a role in determining which of these will be used on a given occasion.

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The case for motivated reasoning.

Numerous studies show that happy individuals are successful across multiple life domains, including marriage, friendship, income, work performance, and health. The authors suggest a conceptual model to account for these findings, arguing that the happiness-success link exists not only because success makes people happy, but also because positive affect engenders success. Three classes of evidence--crosssectional, longitudinal, and experimental--are documented to test their model. Relevant studies are described and their effect sizes combined meta-analytically. The results reveal that happiness is associated with and precedes numerous successful outcomes, as well as behaviors paralleling success. Furthermore, the evidence suggests that positive affect--the hallmark of well-being--may be the cause of many of the desirable characteristics, resources, and successes correlated with happiness. Limitations, empirical issues, and important future research questions are discussed.

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The Benefits of Frequent Positive Affect: Does Happiness Lead to Success?

Part I. Experimental Studies: 2. Experiment in psychology 3. Experiments on perceiving III Experiments on imaging 4-8. Experiments on remembering: (a) The method of description (b) The method of repeated reproduction (c) The method of picture writing (d) The method of serial reproduction (e) The method of serial reproduction picture material 9. Perceiving, recognizing, remembering 10. A theory of remembering 11. Images and their functions 12. Meaning Part II. Remembering as a Study in Social Psychology: 13. Social psychology 14. Social psychology and the matter of recall 15. Social psychology and the manner of recall 16. Conventionalism 17. The notion of a collective unconscious 18. The basis of social recall 19. A summary and some conclusions.

Remembering. A Study in Experimental and Social Psychology, Cambridge (University Press) 1964.

This article introduces the Journal of Personality's special issue on coping and personality. It first presents a historical overview of the psychological study of how people cope with stress and identifies three generations of theory and research: (a) the psychoanalysts and the ego development school, which tended to equate personality and coping strategies; (b) the transactional approach, which appeared in the 1960s and emphasized situational and cognitive influences on coping while downplaying the role of individual differences; and (c) the most recent, "third generation," whose work is represented in this special issue and focuses on the role of personality in coping while maintaining strong operational distinctions among coping, personality, appraisal, and adaptational outcomes. This introduction concludes with a discussion of unresolved conceptual and methodological issues and a brief orientation to the third-generation articles that follow in this special issue.

Personality and coping: three generations of research.

Contents: JH Harvey, A Wenzel, S Sprecher, Introduction Part I: Introduction J DeLamater, JS Hyde, Conceptual and Theoretical Issues in Studying Sexuality in Close Relationships MW Wiederman, Methodological Issues in Studying Sexuality in Close Relationships MC Willetts, S Sprecher, FD Beck, Overview of Sexual Practices and Attitudes Within Relational Contexts JA Simpson, CL Wilson, HA Winterheld, Sociosexuality and Romantic Relationships Part II: Role of Sexuality in the Formation, Development, and Maintenance of Close Relationships PC Regan, Sex and the Attraction Process: Lessons From Science (and Shakespeare) on Lust, Love, Chastity, and Fidelity S Metts, First Sexual Involvement in Romantic Relationships: An Empirical Investigation of Communicative Framing, Romantic Beliefs, and Attachment Orientation in the Passion Turning Point C Hendrick, SS Hendrick, Sex and Romantic Love: Connects and Disconnects JA Feeney, P Noller, Attachment and Sexuality in Close Relationships ES Byers, A Wang, Understanding Sexuality in Close Relationships From the Social Exchange Perspective S Sprecher, RM Cate, Sexual Satisfaction and Sexual Expression as Predictors of Relationship Satisfaction and Stability Part III: The Dark Side of Sex WR Cupach, BH Spitzberg, Unrequited Lust FS Christopher, TS Kisler, Sexual Aggression in Romantic Relationships LK Guerrero, BH Spitzberg, SM Yoshimura, Sexual and Emotional Jealousy Part IV:Sexuality in Special Types of Couples and Contexts LA Peplau, A Fingerhut, KP Beals, Sexuality in the Relationships of Lesbians and Gay Men FS Christopher, TS Kisler, Exploring Marital Sexuality: Peeking Inside the Bedroom and Discovering What We Don't Know--But Should! TD Fisher, Family Foundations of Sexuality EN Haugen, PA Schmutzer, A Wenzel, Sexuality and the Partner Relationship During Pregnancy and the Postpartum Period EO Burgess, Sexuality in Midlife and Later Life Couples KD Vohs, KR Catanese, RF Baumeister, Sex in "His" vs "Her" Relationships Part V:Applications and Clinical Aspects S Aubin, JR Heiman, Sexual Dysfunction From a Relationship Perspective SM Noar, RS Zimmerman, KA Atwood, Safer Sex and Sexually Transmitted Infections From a Relationship Perspective A Wenzel, LC Jackson, JR Brendle, Psychopathology, Sexuality, and the Partner Relationship BW McCarthy, LE Bodnar, M Handal, Integrating Sex Therapy and Couple Therapy P Schwartz, D Perlman, S Campbell, Commentaries

The Handbook of Sexuality in Close Relationships

Preface. Part 1: General Perspectives on Loss, Trauma, Coping, and Positive Impacts of Loss. From Vulnerability to Growth: Positive and Negative Effects of Stressful Life Events. The Other Side of Trauma: Towards a Psychology of Appreciation. Bereavement. Helping Victims of Loss and Trauma: A Social Psychological Perspective. Victim Thinking. The Ranking of Personal Grief: Death and Comparative Loss. Parallel Selves as Ending of the Grief Work. Rational Suicide. Part 2: Loss and Trauma Associated with Specific Populations. The Role of Perceived Control in Coping with the Losses Associated with Chronic Illness. Coping as a "Reality Construction": On the Role of Attentive, Comparative, and Interpretive Processes in Coping with Cancer. Loss, Adjustment, and Growth after Cancer: Lessons from Patients' children. The Few Gains and Many Losses for Those Stigmatized by Psychiatric Disorders. The Human Costs of Organizational Downsizing: The "Irrational" Effects of The Justice Motive on Managers, Dismissed Workers, and Survivors. Transcending A Lifetime of Losses: The Importance of Spirituality in Old Age. College Student Grief and Loss. On Being Homeless and Mentally Ill: A Multitude of Losses and the Possibility of Recovery. Part 3: Loss and Trauma Associated with Close Relationships. Loss, Resources, and Resiliency in Close Interpersonal Relationships. Negotiating Terminal Illness: Communication, Collusion, and Coalition in Caregiving. Caregiver Loss and Quality of Care Provided: Pre-Illness Relationship Makes a Difference. Adjusting to Infertility. Widowhood in Later-Life. The Loss of Loved Ones: the Impact of Relationship Infidelity. Unyielding custody disputes: Tempering Loss and Courting disaster. Cognitive Interdependence and the Experience of Relationship Loss. Part 4: Conclusion. Commentary on Field of Loss and Trauma and Chapters.

Loss and trauma : general and close relationship perspectives

Do people use consensus information in making causal attributions

Contents: Preface. Part I: Introduction. M.A. Fine, J.H. Harvey, Divorce and Relationship Dissolution in the 21st Century. Part II: Demographic and Historical Aspects of Divorce and Relationship Dissolution. G.C. Kitson, Divorce and Dissolution Research: Then and Now. P.R. Amato, S. Irving, Historical Trends in Divorce in the United States. J. Teachman, L. Tedrow, M. Hall, The Demographic Future of Divorce and Dissolution. Part III: Causes, Underlying Processes, and Antecedents of Divorce and Relationship Dissolution. A.E. Rodrigues, J.H. Hall, F.D. Fincham, What Predicts Divorce and Relationship Dissolution. M. Masuda, Perspectives on Premarital Postdissolution Relationships: Account-Making of Friendships Between Former Romantic Partners. A.L. Vangelisti, Hurtful Interactions and the Dissolution of Intimacy. J.H. Hall, F.D. Fincham, Relationship Dissolution Following Infidelity. S. Duck, J.T. Wood, What Goes Up May Come Down: Sex and Gendered Patterns in Relational Dissolution. J.H. Harvey, M.A. Fine, Social Construction of Accounts in the Process of Relationship Termination. K. Kayser, S.S. Rao, Process of Disaffection in Relationship Breakdown. S.S. Rollie, S. Duck, Divorce and Dissolution of Romantic Relationships: Stage Models and Their Limitations. K. Adamsons, K. Pasley, Coparenting Following Divorce and Relationship Dissolution. E. Lawrence, E. Ro, R. Barry, M. Bunde, Mechanisms of Distress and Dissolution in Physically Agressive Romantic Relationships. Part IV: Consequences of Divorce and Relationship Dissolution. B.L. Barber, D.H. Demo, The Kids Are Alright (at Least, Most of Them): Links Between Divorce and Dissolution and Child Well-Being. S.L. Braver, J.R. Shapiro, M.R. Goodman, Consequences of Divorce for Parents. D.S. Bartell, Influence of Parental Divorce on Romantic Relationships in Young Adulthood: A Cognitive-Developmental Perspective. T. Tashiro, P. Frazier, M. Berman, Stress-Related Growth Following Divorce and Relationship Dissolution. L.C. Sayer, Economic Aspects of Divorce and Relationship Dissolution. Part V: Coping With Divorce and Relationship Dissolution. L. Ganong, M. Coleman, J. Hans, Divorce as Prelude to Stepfamily Living and the Consequences of Redivorce. T.D. Afifi, K. Hamrick, Communication Processes that Promote Risk and Resiliency in Postdivorce Families. S. Sprecher, D. Felmlee, M. Schmeeckle, X. Shu, No Breakup Occurs on an Island: Social Networks and Relationship Dissolution. Part VI: Variations in Divorce and Relationship Dissolution Patterns and Processes. T.L. Orbuch, E. Brown, Divorce in the Context of Being African American. R.F. Oswald, E. Clausell, Same-Sex Relationships and Their Dissolution. A.J. Umana-Taylor, E.C. Alfaro, Divorce and Relationship Dissolution Among Latino Populations in the United States. Part VII: Policy Issues Pertaining to Divorce and Relationship Dissolution. M.M. Mahoney, The Law of Divorce and Relationship Dissolution. D.A. Sbarra, R.E. Emery, In the Presence of Grief: The Role of Cognitive-Emotional Adaptation in Contemporary Divorce Mediation. K.R. Blaisure, M.J. Geasler, Educational Interventions for Separating and Divorcing Parents and Their Children. Part VIII: Commentaries. R.S. Weiss, Trying to Understand Close Relationships. E. Berscheid, The Changing Reasons for Marriage and Divorce. A. Booth, Proposals for Research on the Consequences of Divorce for Children.

John H. Harvey

Papers

Personality and coping: three generations of research.

The Handbook of Sexuality in Close Relationships

Loss and trauma : general and close relationship perspectives

Do people use consensus information in making causal attributions

Handbook of Divorce and Relationship Dissolution