Presented By: Research Center for Group Dynamics (RCGD)
RCGD Seminar Series and Katz-Newcomb Colloquium Series: Bill Chopik
Optimism and health: Resource or delusion?
Dr. Bill Chopik (he/his/him) joins us at the University of Michigan March 31, 3025, for a talk co-sponsored by the Research Center for Group Dynamics and the Katz-Newcomb Colloquium Series.
Does it always help to look on the bright side of life and a situation? Years of individual difference and lifespan development research have framed optimism—the tendency to expect positive things in the future—as an asset that protects against physical and cognitive decline. There is also an assumption that optimism is a purely individual resource, originating from people alone, irrespective of their environments. In this talk, Chopik will revisit these approaches and provide some evidence that people are optimistic even when they shouldn’t be, how the optimism of other people affects us, and how where you live might alter how you think about the future. The goal of this session is to give you a crash course on optimism and where it comes from—topics that expand our understanding of health and resilience and should be of interest to everyone, even if you’re a pessimist at heart.
Dr. Chopik is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology at Michigan State University. He studies how close relationships—and the people in them—change over time and across situations. Dr. Chopik’s work examines phenomena as broad as how relationships and social institutions shape development and as focused as the mechanisms that underlie the link between close relationships and health. In 2017, Dr. Chopik was recognized as one of Forbes Magazine’s Top 30 Scientists Under 30 and has since been recognized as a Rising Star by the Association for Psychological Science.
David Dunning, organizer of the Katz-Newcomb speaker series in Psychology and an associate of the Research Center for Group Dynamics, hosts. RCGD's winter 2025 seminar series covers a variety of topics in social science, including social cognition, structural racism, romantic relationships, and cognitive health. Check the schedule for updates to this series that will convene on select Mondays at 3:30 at the Institute for Social Research, Room 1430.
As permissions allow, seminars are later posted to the RCGD YouTube playlist.
Does it always help to look on the bright side of life and a situation? Years of individual difference and lifespan development research have framed optimism—the tendency to expect positive things in the future—as an asset that protects against physical and cognitive decline. There is also an assumption that optimism is a purely individual resource, originating from people alone, irrespective of their environments. In this talk, Chopik will revisit these approaches and provide some evidence that people are optimistic even when they shouldn’t be, how the optimism of other people affects us, and how where you live might alter how you think about the future. The goal of this session is to give you a crash course on optimism and where it comes from—topics that expand our understanding of health and resilience and should be of interest to everyone, even if you’re a pessimist at heart.
Dr. Chopik is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology at Michigan State University. He studies how close relationships—and the people in them—change over time and across situations. Dr. Chopik’s work examines phenomena as broad as how relationships and social institutions shape development and as focused as the mechanisms that underlie the link between close relationships and health. In 2017, Dr. Chopik was recognized as one of Forbes Magazine’s Top 30 Scientists Under 30 and has since been recognized as a Rising Star by the Association for Psychological Science.
David Dunning, organizer of the Katz-Newcomb speaker series in Psychology and an associate of the Research Center for Group Dynamics, hosts. RCGD's winter 2025 seminar series covers a variety of topics in social science, including social cognition, structural racism, romantic relationships, and cognitive health. Check the schedule for updates to this series that will convene on select Mondays at 3:30 at the Institute for Social Research, Room 1430.
As permissions allow, seminars are later posted to the RCGD YouTube playlist.
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