The spillover effect of unrealistic optimism and its temporal aspects

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dc.abstract.enUnrealistic optimism is a phenomenon in which a person perceives oneself as less threatened than another person in the same situation leading to the feeling of control and fear reduction during and before threatening events. A small amount of research on unrealistic pessimism delivers the opposite picture: people perceive themselves as more exposed to negative consequences compared to others. The consequences of these biased perceptions of reality are seminal: the first leads to an increased risk of disregarded negative consequences, whilst the second leads to proactive actions toward self-protection. The present paper tries to replicate the unrealistic pessimism effect in a new context: floods. Surprisingly, results show that people affected by floods report unrealistic optimism. Non-affected participants shared this bias, described as the ‘spillover effect.’ Finally, this illusion persists over time, even when the risk is no longer present, challenging its fear-reduction explanation.
dc.affiliationWydział Psychologii w Warszawie, Instytut Psychologii
dc.affiliationInstytut Psychologii
dc.affiliationWydział Psychologii we Wrocławiu
dc.contributor.authorKulesza, Wojciech
dc.contributor.authorMuniak, Paweł
dc.contributor.authorDoliński, Dariusz
dc.date.access2026-11-13
dc.date.accessioned2026-11-13T13:33:35Z
dc.date.available2026-11-13T13:33:35Z
dc.date.created2026-11-13
dc.date.issued2026-11-13
dc.description.accesstimeat_publication
dc.description.issue22
dc.description.physical1-17
dc.description.sdgCleanWaterAndSanitation
dc.description.sdgClimateAction
dc.description.versionfinal_published
dc.description.volume45
dc.identifier.doi10.1007/s12144-026-10340-0
dc.identifier.eissn1936-4733
dc.identifier.issn1046-1310
dc.identifier.urihttps://share.swps.edu.pl/handle/swps/2759
dc.identifier.weblinkhttps://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12144-026-10340-0
dc.languageen
dc.pbn.affiliationpsychologia
dc.rightsCC-BY-NC-ND
dc.rights.questionYes_rights
dc.share.articleOTHER
dc.subject.enUnrealistic optimism
dc.subject.enUnrealistic pessimism
dc.subject.enSpillover effect
dc.subject.enTemporal aspects
dc.subject.enFlood
dc.swps.sciencecloudsend
dc.titleThe spillover effect of unrealistic optimism and its temporal aspects
dc.title.journalCurrent Psychology
dc.typeJournalArticle
dspace.entity.typeArticle