Article: Positive Thinking in Coping with Stress and Health Outcomes: Literature Review

Impact of Positive Thinking on Health Outcomes, Stress, and Coping

By analyzing the literature, the paper investigates the impact of positive thinking on health outcomes, stress, and coping. Positive feelings such as optimism, well-being, joy, and hope are associated with positive thinking. According to Naseem and Khalid (2010), positive attitude refers to a mental state that allows words, images, and thoughts to enter the mind, allowing for development, progress, and success. Negative thinking, on the other hand, includes self-criticism, which dominates depressed people’s perception. Such people always expect negative outcomes since they acquire physical and psychological health issues as a result of the daily stimuli they face (Naseem and Khalid 2010).

Effects of Positive Thinking on Physical and Psychological Well-being

The article strictly focuses on the effects of positive thinking, positive emotions, and feeling on the physical and psychological well-being. Positive thinkers are optimistic about stressful situations they encounter, and in case of such, they use functional, problem-focused, and efficient coping strategies. They feel contented that their goals are met with the adequate resources as opposed to Naseem and Khalid (2010)’s view on negative thinkers who view stressful situations as threats to their lives. Positive thinking accounts for stress reduction leading to a healthy outcome. Such thinking under stressful circumstances helps ones cope better due to optimism nature as well as reducing sad situations in case of diseases.

Enhancement of Immune Competence, Low Mortality Rate, and Resilience

Moreover, positive thinking enhances immune competence, low mortality rate, and resilience resulting in positive emotions as highlighted by Naseem and Khalid (2010).

Different Perspectives on Positive Thinking in Stressful Situations

Personally, positive thinking under the subjection of stressful situations differs from one personality to the next even though one is not a negative thinker as Cheng, Lau, and Chan (2014) cite. The research results are not consistent with the daily happenings in life as satisfaction and optimism are measured by other variables like wealth and economic class of someone. The health outcome is dependent on other factors like occupational well-being, educational level, and the current stressing situation in question as suggested by Cheng, Lau, and Chan (2014). Psychologists generalizing that positive thinking leading to similar outcomes is questionable. They should try analyzing what everyone views as stress and check on the coping variables from one individual to the next.

References

Cheng, C., Lau, H. P. B., & Chan, M. P. S. (2014). “Coping flexibility and psychological

Adjustment to stressful life changes: A meta-analytic review.” Psychology Bulletin, 140(6):1582-607. doi: 10.1037/a0037913.

Naseem, Z. & Khalid, R. (June, 2010). ”Positive thinking in coping with stress and health

Outcomes: literature review.” Journal of Research and Reflections in Education, 4(1), 42-61. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/db77/200dc777353a922594e868554b12e0c8448b.pdf