One may wonder what this has got to do with an
investment class but this will be the foundation upon which the security of the
future will be built upon. ‘It can’t happen to me syndrome’ or ‘optimism bias’
is that bias that makes a person believe that He or She is at less risk of experiencing
a negative event compared to others even when they are leaving under the same condition.
Examples are:
A smoker believing that he will not die young as
a result of smoking related illness; a young man spending voraciously believing
that he can never be broke even when most of the people who had lived such
lifestyle ended up broke; a person having unprotected sex believing that she will not get pregnant.
When talking about optimism bias, it can also be
pessimism bias, which means some people believe only negative things will
happen to them as such they don’t try to take step or try anything new. Examples are: believing that you will always
be heart broken in every relationship you get into; that this investment will
end like the last one and as such there is no need to try; I cannot pass this examination
because it looks too difficult.
While there is more research and evidence suggesting
that bias is stronger for positive events, however, different consequences
result from both types of event. Positive
events lead to a feeling of well being and self esteem, while that of the
negative events lead to consequences involving major risk such as engaging in
risky behavior and not taking precautionary measure for safety.
Why do people have such optimism bias when it is
obvious that it does a lot of harm than good? These are the factors that can
cause a person to be optimistically bias:
1. Their
desired end state: People are usually
carried away with their desired state that they give less attention to the
events that is expected to lead to that desired end. There is always need to ask yourself this: if
I continue like this, what will my end possibly be? There is a need to always analyze
the event or the lifestyle, so you can come up with an objective conclusion. Religious
teachings have also made people to believe that things will always end well (even
when this same people don’t even subject themselves to the teaching of the
faith, they still believe in the positive ending).
2. The information they have about themselves: A
lot of people just live their lives without having information about their
health, their income, their business, their personality, their investment, and
so on. This leads them to live a life of
chance. Living a life without knowledge
of the consequences of our actions or inactions tends to make us believe all is
well when actually all is not well. Consider a man walking on the street with a
high blood pressure without him knowing; just imagine how he will be living his
life.
3. Self
enhancement: Optimistic predictions are satisfying and it feels good to think
that positive events will always happen. People can control their anxiety and
other negative emotions if they believe the issue on ground is going to end in
their favor.
In conclusion, it is necessary for us to know
that everybody is exposed to positive and negative events or situations in life
irrespective of mind disposition, so it is only wise for us to live our lives
anticipating this and therefore put up structures that will help us deal with
it when it occurs. The essence of this
seminar is to help you put structures that can help in dealing with these
occurrences.
Idowu
Okungbowa is the Managing Consultant of ‘Fredericks International’, a Human Capital
Development and Marketing Consulting Firm. He is a public speaker and he has a
great interest in youth development and entertainment. Email:
idowuokungbowa@yahoo.com.
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