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Crushing Hope: Short Term Responses to Tragedy Vary by Hopefulness

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  • Fletcher, Jason M.

    (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Abstract

This research note explores the consequences of dispositional optimism and hopefulness when the environment changes. Much literature has documented the importance of a positive outlook in pursuing investments in health and education that pay off in the future. A question that has received less attention is whether a positive outlook creates resilience in the face of setbacks or whether a positive outlook may be a disadvantage in extreme circumstances, especially when there is a large mismatch between expectations and reality. This paper uses the coincidental interview schedule of the Add Health data (N=15,024) around the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 to examine interactions with this environmental shock and previously elicited measures of hopefulness. The results suggest that increases in depressive symptoms following the attack are concentrated among those young adults who initially expressed the most hopefulness in the future as teenagers.

Suggested Citation

  • Fletcher, Jason M., 2018. "Crushing Hope: Short Term Responses to Tragedy Vary by Hopefulness," IZA Discussion Papers 11291, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11291
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Robert Metcalfe & Nattavudh Powdthavee & Paul Dolan, 2011. "Destruction and Distress: Using a Quasi‐Experiment to Show the Effects of the September 11 Attacks on Mental Well‐Being in the United Kingdom," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 121(550), pages 81-103, February.
    2. Tefft, Nathan, 2012. "Mental health and employment: The SAD story," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 242-255.
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    Cited by:

    1. Janice Chan & Somayyeh Mohammadi & Elham Esfandiari & Julia Schmidt & W. Ben Mortenson & William C. Miller, 2023. "Living through the Pandemic with a Disability: A Longitudinal Qualitative Study," Disabilities, MDPI, vol. 3(3), pages 1-12, June.
    2. Gero, Krisztina & Aida, Jun & Shirai, Kokoro & Kondo, Katsunori & Kawachi, Ichiro, 2021. "Dispositional Optimism and Disaster Resilience: A natural experiment from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 273(C).
    3. Grossman, Daniel & Khalil, Umair & Ray, Arijit, 2019. "Terrorism and early childhood health outcomes: Evidence from Pakistan," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 237(C), pages 1-1.
    4. Wilkinson, Lindsay R. & Schafer, Markus H. & Wilkinson, Renae, 2020. "How painful is a recession? An assessment of two future-oriented buffering mechanisms," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    5. O'Donohue, Katelyn & Berger, Emily & McLean, Louise & Carroll, Matthew, 2021. "Psychological outcomes for young adults after disastrous events: A mixed-methods scoping review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    6. Jason Fletcher, 2020. "Assessing the Importance of Childhood Context in the Development of Hope and Optimism," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(7), pages 2419-2427, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    mismatch; hopefulness; evolutionary psychology; depressive symptoms; trauma;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior

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