Optimism, hostility, and adjustment in the first year of high school

Abstract

In this project 102 students at the outset of their first year at high school responded to questionnaires assessing their levels of (a) optimism and pessimism, (b) personal expectancies for the occurrence of specific negative events, and (c) depression and anxiety. Additional data concerning hostility to school, perceived classroom involvement, and student self-reported and teacher-reported adjustment to school measures were collected at the end of the year. In general, the girls reported greater levels of positive adjustment than boys. It was found that optimism together with expectation for negative events predicted 21% of the variance in school hostility. In addition, optimism predicted perceived classroom involvement, and also predicted students’ self-reported adjustment. Teachers’ ratings of student adjustment were predicted only by gender.