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optimism
You believe you are safer than the average person.
A 1980 study found that most adults rate their personal risk of accidents as significantly lower than their peers.
When asked to evaluate the likelihood of negative life events, people systematically underestimate their own vulnerability. This optimism bias persists even when individuals are presented with statistical data that suggests their personal risk is identical to others. The brain filters information to prioritize a sense of unique invulnerability.
We tend to view our own future as a protected exception.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Neil Weinstein, 1980, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
- What the check found
- The cited study (Weinstein, 1980) is the foundational text for unrealistic optimism regarding life events, including accidents, though it relied on a college student sample.
- Confidence
- Contested
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.