Exposing People to Others Not Following Recommendations Reduces Unrealistic Optimism. An Experiment During a Pandemic

• DOI: 10.24425/ppb.2023.144883
• Publication Date: 2023-07-14T18:51:00Z
• Authors: Wojciech Kulesza; Dariusz Doliński; Paweł Muniak; Kamil Izydorczak; Rafał Węgrzyn; Aidana Rizulla
• Keywords: Pandemic; 2019-20 coronavirus outbreak

Forty years of research on Unrealistic Optimism -a delusion that negative events are less likely and positive more to happen oneself (in comparison others) -has proved be robust.Importantly, as a result, people holding this bias reduce their engagement in health prevention following medical recommendations, etc., leading the conclusion is dangerous.However, there hardly any how bias.To address issue, an experiment real-life context COVID-19 pandemic was run.It found participants' reduced when they were exposed behavior others who did not follow recommendations.