Optimism, Goal Conflict, and Stressor-Related Immune Change
Abstract
Although optimism is usually conceptualized as a buffer against stressor-related changes in the immune system, some contradictory findings have emerged. The present research proposed that when facing conflicting goals, optimists are more likely to remain engaged with both goals and to experience higher short-term stress as a consequence. Optimists were therefore predicted to fare worse than pessimists immunologically when facing academic-social goal conflict but to fare better when not facing goal conflict. In the Study 1 sample (n = 48), optimism was associated with higher numbers of CD4+ cells among first-year law students who were less likely to have academic-social conflict and with lower numbers of CD4+ cells at midsemester among students who were more likely to have conflict. The results replicated in the Study 2 sample of law students (n = 22) using delayed-type hypersensitivity testing. Optimists may be subject to short-term physiological costs in their persistence to gain long-term rewards.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Cites
Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.51.6.1173 · Cited by 91,542 · see citing works
Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.51.6.1173 · Cited by 91,532 · see citing works
Multiple regression: testing and interpreting interactions
(1992) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.29-3352 · Cited by 36,644 · see citing works
Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales.
Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.54.6.1063 · Cited by 32,433 · see citing works
Illusion and well‐being: A social psychological perspective on mental health
Taylor, S. E., & Brown, J. D. (1988) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.103.2.193 · Cited by 7,814 · see citing works
Scheier, M. F., Carver, C. S., & Bridges, M. W. (1994) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.67.6.1063 · Cited by 7,456 · see citing works
Social Relationships and Health
House, J. S., Landis, K. R., & Umberson, D. (1988) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.3399889 · Cited by 7,073 · see citing works
Optimism, coping, and health: Assessment and implications of generalized outcome expectancies.
Scheier, M. F., & Carver, C. S. (1985) · Health Psychology · doi:10.1037/0278-6133.4.3.219 · Cited by 6,690 · cited 7× · see citing works
“Students who relocated or did not relocate did not differ on LOT scores or baseline TMD; among immune parameters, student who did not relocate had higher adjusted NKCC at the 12.5:1 ratio at baseline [t(46) = 2.05, p < .05].”
BackgroundInfluentialToward a consensual structure of mood.
Watson, D., & Tellegen, A. (1985) · Psychological bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.98.2.219 · Cited by 5,362 · see citing works
Negative affectivity: the disposition to experience aversive emotional states
Watson, D., & Clark, L. A. (1984) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.96.3.465 · Cited by 4,636 · see citing works
On the Self-Regulation of Behavior
Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (1998) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9781139174794 · Cited by 4,110 · see citing works
Essentials of Behavioral Research: Methods and Data Analysis
Rosenthal, R., & Rosnow, R. L. (1984) · Cited by 3,925 · see citing works
State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Adults
Spielberger, C. D. (2012) · PsycTESTS Dataset · doi:10.1037/t06496-000 · Cited by 3,479 · see citing works
On the Self-Regulation of Behavior
Wright, B. R. E., Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (2000) · Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews · doi:10.2307/2654424 · Cited by 3,327 · see citing works
Health complaints, stress, and distress: Exploring the central role of negative affectivity.
Watson, D., & Pennebaker, J. W. (1989) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.96.2.234 · Cited by 3,030 · see citing works
Uchino, B. N., Cacioppo, J. T., & Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K. (1996) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.119.3.488 · Cited by 2,727 · see citing works
McNair, D. M. (1992) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 2,527 · see citing works
Scheier, M. F., & Carver, C. S. (1992) · Cognitive Therapy and Research · doi:10.1007/bf01173489 · Cited by 2,220 · see citing works
Scheier, M. F., & Carver, C. S. (1987) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.1987.tb00434.x · Cited by 1,225 · see citing works
The relative efficacy of avoidant and nonavoidant coping strategies: A meta-analysis.
Suls, J. M., & Fletcher, B. (1985) · Health Psychology · doi:10.1037//0278-6133.4.3.249 · Cited by 1,224 · see citing works
Toward a consensual structure of mood
Watson, D., & Tellegen, A. (1985) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037//0033-2909.98.2.219 · Cited by 1,170 · see citing works
Social ties and health: The benefits of social integration
Seeman, T. E. (1996) · Annals of Epidemiology · doi:10.1016/s1047-2797(96)00095-6 · Cited by 1,137 · see citing works
Stress and immunity in humans: a meta-analytic review.
Herbert, T. B., & Cohen, S. (1993) · Psychosomatic Medicine · doi:10.1097/00006842-199307000-00004 · Cited by 1,093 · see citing works
The relative efficacy of avoidant and nonavoidant coping strategies: A meta-analysis.
Suls, J. M., & Fletcher, B. (1985) · Health Psychology · doi:10.1037/0278-6133.4.3.249 · Cited by 885 · see citing works
Depression and immunity: A meta-analytic review.
Herbert, T. B., & Cohen, S. (1993) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.113.3.472 · Cited by 812 · see citing works
Coping with a breast cancer diagnosis: A prospective study.
Stanton, A. L., & Snider, P. R. (1993) · Health Psychology · doi:10.1037//0278-6133.12.1.16 · Cited by 574 · see citing works
Coping with a breast cancer diagnosis: A prospective study.
Stanton, A. L., & Snider, P. R. (1993) · Health Psychology · doi:10.1037/0278-6133.12.1.16 · Cited by 574 · cited 1× · see citing works
“In these studies, positive expectancies did not increase psychological vulnerability to negative outcomes such as diagnosis with breast cancer, HIV-related health decline, and in vitro fertilization failure (Litt et al., 1992; Neter et al., 1999; Stanton and Snider, 1993).”
BackgroundDistinguishing optimism from pessimism: Relations to fundamental dimensions of mood and personality.
Marshall, G. N., Wortman, C. B., Kusulas, J. W., Hervig, L. K., & Vickers, R. R. (1992) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.62.6.1067 · Cited by 568 · see citing works
Emmons, R. A., & King, L. A. (1988) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.54.6.1040 · Cited by 534 · see citing works
Optimism is associated with mood, coping, and immune change in response to stress.
Segerstrom, S. C., Taylor, S. E., Kemeny, M. E., & Fahey, J. L. (1998) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.74.6.1646 · Cited by 527 · see citing works
Measurement of Delayed Skin-Test Responses
Sokal, J. E. (1975) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejm197509042931013 · Cited by 504 · see citing works
Emmons, R. A., & King, L. A. (1988) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.54.6.1040 · Cited by 486 · see citing works
Smith, T. W., Pope, M. K., Rhodewalt, F. T., & Poulton, J. L. (1989) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.56.4.640 · Cited by 372 · see citing works
Social Influence and Exercise: A Meta-Analysis
Carron, A. V., Hausenblas, H. A., & Mack, D. E. (1996) · Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology · doi:10.1123/jsep.18.1.1 · Cited by 326 · see citing works
A longitudinal model of social contact, social support, depression, and alcohol use.
Peirce, R. S., Frone, M., Russell, M., Cooper, M., & Mudar, P. (2000) · Health Psychology · doi:10.1037/0278-6133.19.1.28 · Cited by 320 · see citing works
A longitudinal model of social contact, social support, depression, and alcohol use.
Peirce, R. S., Frone, M. R., Russell, M., Cooper, M. L., & Mudar, P. J. (2000) · Health Psychology · doi:10.1037//0278-6133.19.1.28 · Cited by 299 · see citing works
Räikkönen, K., Matthews, K. A., Flory, J. D., Owens, J. F., & Gump, B. B. (1999) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.76.1.104 · Cited by 288 · see citing works
Social relationships, personality, and anxiety during a major stressful event.
Bolger, N. P., & Eckenrode, J. J. (1991) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.61.3.440 · Cited by 287 · see citing works
Evidence that secretory IgA antibody is associated with daily mood.
Stone, A. A., Cox, D. S., Valdimarsdottir, H. B., Jandorf, L. H., & Neale, J. M. (1987) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.52.5.988 · Cited by 270 · see citing works
Smith, T. W., Pope, M. K., Rhodewalt, F. T., et al. (1989) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.56.4.640 · Cited by 248 · see citing works
Glaser, R., & Rice, J. M. (1986) · Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.1037//0735-7044.100.5.675 · Cited by 240 · see citing works
Realistic acceptance as a predictor of decreased survival time in gay men with AIDS.
Reed, G. M., Kemeny, M. E., Taylor, S. E., Wang, H.-Y. J., & al, E. (1994) · Health Psychology · doi:10.1037//0278-6133.13.4.299 · Cited by 231 · see citing works
Stress and Immune Function in Humans
Kiecolt‐Glaser, J. K., & Glaser, R. (1991) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-043780-1.50038-5 · Cited by 223 · see citing works
Coping and Cognitive factors in adaptation toin vitro fertilization failure
Litt, M. D., Tennen, H. A., Affleck, G. G., & Klock, S. C. (1992) · Journal of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1007/bf00848324 · Cited by 220 · see citing works
Social relationships, personality, and anxiety during a major stressful event.
Bolger, N. P., & Eckenrode, J. J. (1991) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.61.3.440 · Cited by 212 · see citing works
Glaser, R., Rice, J. M., Speicher, C. E., et al. (1986) · Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.1037/0735-7044.100.5.675 · Cited by 206 · see citing works
Mullen, B., & Suls, J. (1982) · Journal of Psychosomatic Research · doi:10.1016/0022-3999(82)90061-7 · Cited by 190 · cited 1× · see citing works
“The reverse is true in the long term (weeks to months), when attention to and engagement with stressors are associated with better physical adaptation (Mullen and Suls, 1982; Suls and Fletcher, 1985).”
BackgroundDaily events are associated with a secretory immune response to an oral antigen in men.
Stone, A. A., Neale, J. M., Cox, D. S., Napoli, A. M., Valdimarsdottir, H. B., & Kennedy-Moore, E. (1994) · Health Psychology · doi:10.1037/0278-6133.13.5.440 · Cited by 179 · see citing works
Realistic acceptance as a predictor of decreased survival time in gay men with AIDS.
Reed, G. M., Kemeny, M. E., Taylor, S. E., et al. (1994) · Health Psychology · doi:10.1037/0278-6133.13.4.299 · Cited by 173 · see citing works
Modulation of human natural killer cell activity by exposure to uncontrollable stress
Sieber, W. J., Rodin, J., Larson, L., Ortega, S., Cummings, N., Levy, S., Whiteside, T., & Herberman, R. (1992) · Brain Behavior and Immunity · doi:10.1016/0889-1591(92)90014-f · Cited by 156 · see citing works
Personality and the immune system: Models, methods, and mechanisms
Segerstrom, S. C. (2000) · Annals of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1007/bf02895112 · Cited by 136 · see citing works
Self-citationDifferential Immune System Changes with Acute and Persistent Stress for Optimists vs Pessimists
Cohen, F., Kearney, K. A., Zegans, L. S., Kemeny, M. E., Neuhaus, J. M., & Stites, D. P. (1999) · Brain Behavior and Immunity · doi:10.1006/brbi.1998.0531 · Cited by 132 · see citing works
Self-reports of depression and state-trait anxiety: Evidence for differential assessment.
Endler, N. S., Cox, B. J., Parker, J. D. A., & Bagby, R. M. (1992) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.63.5.832 · Cited by 120 · see citing works
Reliability of Tuberculin Skin Test Measurement
Pouchot, J., Grasland, A., Collet, C., Coste, J., Esdaile, J. M., & Vinceneux, P. (1997) · Annals of Internal Medicine · doi:10.7326/0003-4819-126-3-199702010-00005 · Cited by 119 · see citing works
Perceived stress in medical, law, and graduate students
Heins, M., Fahey, S. N., & Leiden, L. I. (1984) · Academic Medicine · doi:10.1097/00001888-198403000-00003 · Cited by 115 · see citing works
Byrnes, D. M., Antoni, M. H., Goodkin, K., Efantis-Potter, J., Asthana, D., Simon, T., Munajj, J., Ironson, G. H., & FLETCHER, M. A. (1998) · Psychosomatic Medicine · doi:10.1097/00006842-199811000-00009 · Cited by 114 · see citing works
Carver, C. S., Kus, L. A., & Scheier, M. F. (1994) · Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1521/jscp.1994.13.2.138 · Cited by 111 · see citing works
Gender differences in relationships and stress of medical and law students
Clark, E. J., & Rieker, P. P. (1986) · Academic Medicine · doi:10.1097/00001888-198601000-00004 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
Self-reports of depression and state-trait anxiety: Evidence for differential assessment.
Endler, N. S., Cox, B. J., Parker, J. D., et al. (1992) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.63.5.832 · Cited by 93 · see citing works
Moderator Variables in Personality Research: The Problem of Controlling for Plausible Alternatives
Hull, J. G., Tedlie, J. C., & Lehn, D. A. (1992) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167292182001 · Cited by 92 · see citing works
The Stigma of Being Pessimistically Biased
Helweg‐Larsen, M., Sadeghian, P., & Webb, M. S. (2002) · Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1521/jscp.21.1.92.22405 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Measurement of Affective Response
Stone, A. A. (1995) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780195086416.003.0007 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Zorrilla, E. P., Redei, E. E., & DeRubeis, R. J. (1994) · Brain Behavior and Immunity · doi:10.1006/brbi.1994.1028 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Rapid Changes in Cellular Immunity Following a Confrontational Role-Play Stressor
Naliboff, B. D., Solomon, G. F., Gilmore, S. L., Fahey, J. L., Benton, D. M., & Pine, J. (1995) · Brain Behavior and Immunity · doi:10.1006/brbi.1995.1020 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Via, M. F. L., Munno, I., Lydiard, R. B., Workman, E. A., Hubbard, J. R., Michel, Y., & Paulling, E. E. (1996) · Psychosomatic Medicine · doi:10.1097/00006842-199603000-00007 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Methodological issues in behavioral immunology research with humans.
Kiecolt-Glaser, J., & Glaser, R. (1988) · Brain, behavior, and immunity · doi:10.1016/0889-1591(88)90007-4 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Psychological stress and the human immune system: a meta-analytic study of 30 Years of inquiry
Segerstrom, S. C., & Miller, G. E. (2004) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.130.4.601 · Cited by 3,334 · see citing works
Self-citationHappy People Live Longer: Subjective Well‐Being Contributes to Health and Longevity
Diener, E., & Chan, M. Y. (2011) · Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being · doi:10.1111/j.1758-0854.2010.01045.x · Cited by 2,260 · see citing works
Too Much of a Good Thing: The Challenge and Opportunity of the Inverted U
Grant, A. M., & Schwartz, B. (2011) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691610393523 · Cited by 668 · see citing works
Become more optimistic by imagining a best possible self: Effects of a two week intervention
Meevissen, Y. M. C., Peters, M. L., & Alberts, H. J. E. M. (2011) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2011.02.012 · Cited by 335 · see citing works
Chapman, B. P., Roberts, B., & Duberstein, P. (2011) · Journal of Aging Research · doi:10.4061/2011/759170 · Cited by 283 · see citing works
Optimism and Pessimism in the Context of Health: Bipolar Opposites or Separate Constructs?
Kubzansky, L. D., Kubzansky, P. E., & Maselko, J. (2004) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167203262086 · Cited by 191 · see citing works
The immune system and happiness
Barak, Y. (2006) · Autoimmunity Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.autrev.2006.02.010 · Cited by 163 · see citing works
Future orientation and suicide ideation and attempts in depressed adults ages 50 and over
Hirsch, J. K., Duberstein, P. R., Conner, K. R., Heisel, M. J., Beckman, A., Franus, N., & Conwell, Y. (2006) · The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry · doi:10.1097/01.jgp.0000209219.06017.62 · Cited by 113 · see citing works
Optimism effects on cellular immunity: testing the affective and persistence models
Segerstrom, S. C., Castañeda, J. O., & Spencer, T. E. (2003) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/s0191-8869(02)00384-7 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Self-citationOn the physical health benefits of self-enhancement.
Segerstrom, S. C., & Roach, A. R. (2008) · Self-criticism and self-enhancement: Theory, research, and clinical implications. · doi:10.1037/11624-003 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Self-citation
- Authors
- Segerstrom, S. C.
- Affiliations
- University of Kentucky (US)
- Corresponding author
- Segerstrom, Suzanne C.
- Venue
- Journal of Behavioral Medicine
- Published
- 2001-10
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 441-467
- ISSN
- 0160-7715 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-3521
- OpenAlex
- W99725191
- Cited by
- 100
- References
- 66
- Citations by year
- 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 9
- FWCI
- 7.22
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Behavioral Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (F31MH010841, MH10841)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Optimism, Hope, and Well-being
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Student Stress and Coping
- Keywords
- optimism, pessimism, goal conflict, CD4+ T cells, delayed-type hypersensitivity, law students, short-term stress, persistence
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Affect, Conflict, Psychological, Female, Goals, Humans, Hypersensitivity, Delayed, Male, Personality, Surveys and Questionnaires, Sampling Studies, Stress, Psychological, Students, CD4 Lymphocyte Count
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
