Realistic optimism, not blind belief, sustains effort on difficult tasks

Evidence

Human well-being and accomplishments require an optimistic, resilient sense of efficacy. The usual daily realities are full of conflicts, impediments, adversity, failures, setbacks, frustration, and inequities. If people are to succeed in difficult undertakings, they cannot afford to be derailed by troublesome experiences. Belief in personal efficacy is not a Pollyannaish mind-set such as “I believe, therefore, I achieve.” The most functional belief system for undertaking difficult tasks combines realism about tough odds with optimism that one can beat those odds through self-development and perseverant effort. A resilient sense of efficacy provides the needed staying power. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2824

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to grit/productive-mindset work (Dweck, Duckworth) and to the ‘Positive Psychology’ self-help literature Bandura is implicitly correcting. — connects to: Absent visible organizations, optimism means stoic endurance rather than action — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics: how Americans…, 960; Motivational intensity rises and falls nonlinearly with task difficulty. — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt: International…, 558