Take the Optimism Test

Perhaps the most widely used method for assessing optimistic or pessimistic disposition is the Life Orientation Test, developed by psychologists Michael Schejer and Charles Carver.

To gauge your optimism level with this test, indicate your response to each item below: A—strongly agree; B—agree; C—feel neutral; D—disagree; E—strongly disagree. Don’t let your answer to one question influence another.

1. In uncertain times I usually expect the best.

2. It’s easy for me to relax.

3. If something can go wrong for me, it will.

4. I’m always optimistic about my future.

5. I enjoy my friends a lot.

6. It's important for me to keep busy.

7. I hardly ever expect things to go my way.

8. I don’t get upset too easily.

9. I rarely count on good things happening to me.

10. Overall, I expect more good things to happen to me than bad.

Ignore your answers to items 2, 5, 6 and 8. Those are fillers.

Subtotal your scores for items 1, 4 and 10 as follows: A is 4 points:

B—3; C—2; B—4; E—O.

Subtotal your scores for items 3, 7 and 9 as follows: A is 0 points;

8—1; C—2; D—3; E—4.

Add those subtotals for an overall optimism score.

The range is from 0 to 24, from extreme pessimism to extreme optimism, with virtual neutrality being the midpoint, 12.

Most people who have taken the test are slightly optimistic, Carver said. For instance, among 2,000 college students, the average score was 14, with two-thirds scoring between 10 and 18.

A group of 159 patients awaiting coronary artery bypass surgery had an average score of 15, possibly suggesting that a serious challenge may boost one’s optimism a bit.

People tend to run a little toward the optimistic end of the dimension, but not by a whole lot," Carver said. Also, people tend to be moderate in their self-descriptions. Not many are saying they are enormously optimistic or pessimistic.’

Source: American PsychologicaI Assn., 1994

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