"It is a puzzle why humans tend toward unrealistic optimism, as it can lead to excessively risky behavior and a failure to take precautionary action. Using data from a large nationally representative U.K. sample (N=36, 312) our claim is that optimism bias is partly a consequence of low cognition—as measured by a broad range of cognitive skills, including memory, verbal fluency, fluid reasoning and numerical reasoning."

Dawson, C. (2023). Looking on the (B)right Side of Life: Cognitive Ability and Miscalibrated Financial Expectations. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672231209400 #OpenAccess #OA #Research #Article #DOI #Human #Psychology #Optimism #Cognitive #DecisionMaking #Academia #Academic #Academics @psychology