Optimism, hope, and attention for emotional stimuli

Optimism and hope are individual difference factors that protect against the development of psychological disorders. They also are associated with more positive cognitive processes, such as positive appraisal of ambiguous events. Attention to emotional information is a cognitive process that has been implicated in the development and maintenance of emotional disorders, but there is a relative dearth of information investigating the relationships between hope, optimism, and attention to emotional information. In the current study, participants (n=104) completed measures of hope and optimism and completed an eye-tracking task to measure attention to emotional scenes. Optimism and hope were associated with less sustained attention to dysphoric information and threatening information. Optimism was associated with increased attention to positive information. Additional indirect effects models were explored. These findings demonstrate a relationship between optimism, hope, and attention to emotional information and suggest a potential mechanism by which these factors may reduce psychological distress. •Hope and optimism are associated with less attention to negative information.•Optimism is associated with more attention for positive information.•Optimism may buffer against distress by enhancing adaptive attention biases.