Optimism, self-esteem, mood and subjective health

In this study the hypothesis was tested that, in normally healthy subjects, optimism and self-esteem will relate negatively to reports of various symptoms, recently noted by a subject. The second hypothesis tested was that optimism, self-esteem and a positive mood state at the time of test taking will also be negatively related to physical anhedonia, or individual differences in the ability to experience pleasure from everyday activities or situations. Symptom reports and physical anhedonia were assumed to be independent, as earlier reported studies have linked symptom reporting with neuroticism and physical anhedonia with extraversion. The results were in accord with the predictions, although not all correlations were statistically significant. Measures of personal optimism, e.g., the Life Orientation Test (LOT), were found to correlate with symptom reporting but optimism as a general attitude to events did not. Personal optimism correlated more strongly with the Self-satisfaction scale than with symptom reporting.