Article2006

Optimism and Pessimism in Kuwaiti and American College Students

52 citations0/0 files storedInternational Journal of Social Psychiatry

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Optimism, Hope, and Well-being Psychometric Methodologies and Testing Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Cross-cultural comparisons in optimism (O) and pessimism (P) are few. Kuwait and the United States have different languages, situations, history and culture. On this basis, there is good reason to hypothesise that there are significant differences between the two countries in O and P. AIMS: To explore the differences in, and correlates of, O and P in Kuwaiti and American college students. METHOD: Two samples of male and female undergraduates were recruited from Kuwait (N = 460) and the United States (N = 273). Their mean ages were 21.9 +/- 3.0 and 23.2 +/- 6.5, respectively. All respondents completed the Arabic Scale of Optimism and Pessimism (ASOP), the Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire, the Ego-grasping Scale, the Death Obsession Scale, the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale and the Arabic Obsessive-Compulsive Scale. Kuwaitis responded to the scales in Arabic, and Americans responded in English. RESULTS: The ASOP displayed good internal consistency, a meaningful factorial structure and interpretable factors in both countries. It was found that O correlated negatively with the above scale scores, while the correlations of P were positive, indicating the convergent validity of the ASOP. The Kuwaiti mean score on O was significantly lower than the mean of their American counterparts, and vice versa for P. CONCLUSION: The findings are explained in the light of previous results on personality and psychopathology questionnaires in Kuwaiti and American societies. There is a need to investigate O and P in different cultures.

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References

2001Handbook of Positive Psychology 1985Optimism, coping, and health: Assessment and implications of generalized outcome expectancies.1980Unrealistic optimism about future life events.1993On the Power of Positive Thinking: The Benefits of Being Optimistic 1992Distinguishing optimism from pessimism: Relations to fundamental dimensions of mood and personality.1995Cultural variation in unrealistic optimism: Does the West feel more vulnerable than the East?1998Optimism is associated with mood, coping and immune change in response to stress.1988Pessimistic explanatory style is a risk factor for physical illness: A thirty-five-year longitudinal study.

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2008Religion and Suicide 2010Constructions of religiosity, subjective well-being, anxiety, and depression in two cultures: Kuwait and USA 2006Love of Life as a New Construct in the Well-being Domain 2007Religiosity, health, and psychopathology in two cultures: Kuwait and USA 2013Mental health, subjective well-being, and religiosity: Significant associations in Kuwait and USA

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