Explanatory Style 1 Optimal Development and Performance: The Role of Explanatory Style Maureen Neihart, Psy.D. Copyright 2002 Understanding Our Gifted Three goals that we all share for our gifted children are that they are happy, socially competent, and realizing their potential in whatever domains they show promise. We want them to be achieving and well adjusted. But we often go about the pursuit of these goals haphazardly, without deliberate attention to what are known to be some of the most effective support strategies. Research clearly points to some factors as more influential than others in promoting optimal development and performance. There are psychosocial factors that make a difference, and these factors can be nurtured (Dweck & Licht, 1980; Greenberger & Padesky, 1995; Park, 1998; Peterson, Maier, & Seligman, 1993). One of these factors is explanatory style: an individual’s perspective on success and failure experiences. How we interpret events contributes to our future vulnerability or resilience (Goodhart, 1985; Park, 1998; Rutter, 1987; Scheier & Carver1985). Explanatory styles are categorized as optimistic or pessimistic (Mcginnis, 1990; Scheier & Carver, 1985; Seligman, 1990; 1995), and each person’s style falls somewhere on the continuum from one to the other. Studies with both children and adults indicate that pessimists are less resilient; more depressed, and achieve less in their lifetimes than do optimists (Scheier & Carver, 1992; Seligman, 1995; Sweeney, Anderson & Bailey, 1986). Optimal development requires shaping and maintaining an optimistic style of interpreting success and failure experiences. We can promote emotional health, social competence, and high Explanatory Style 2 achievement in our children by teaching them to think positively about day-to-day events in their lives. What meaning do they give to situations that go well or that don’t go well? How do they think about the causes of positive and negative events in their lives? There are three dimensions of explanatory style: permanence, pervasiveness, and personalization (Seligman, 1995). Each dimension has to do with how we think about the causes of positive and negative events. Permanence, for instance, refers to whether we view the causes of events as being temporary, or enduring forever. If you believe that the causes of bad things are will never change, what happens to your motivation? It tends to drop, doesn’t it? You become discouraged. Why keep trying, if things aren’t going to change? When bad things happen pessimists tend to think in terms of always and never. "I'll never get to . .” “It's always going . .” “My friends will never . ." Helplessness, hopelessness, apathy, and withdrawal can ensue when people believe that the causes of negative events are permanent. In contrast, optimists think in terms of sometimes and recently. They view setbacks as temporary. When bad things happen they say to themselves, "I’ve been really stressed lately . .” “Sometimes life is difficult . .” “Recently she’s been very hard to live with . ." People are more likely to persevere in the face of adversity when they believe that the causes of bad events are temporary. They feel hopeful. Views of success are just the opposite. When things go well, optimists view the causes as permanent, while pessimists see them as temporary. Optimists say to themselves things like, "I did well on that paper because I am good with words. I’ve always been a good writer." Pessimists say things like, “I got lucky.” Or, “I got a good grade on that paper because Mr. Sorenson was in a good mood.” Explanatory Style 3 Suppose a gifted middle school student wins a piano competition. If her explanatory style is optimistic, she’ll attribute the causes to something enduring, (e.g. “I’m very musical and I have a great memory.”) If her style is pessimistic, she’ll attribute the cause of her success to something more temporary, (e.g. “The other performers had a bad day.”) Success experiences build confidence for optimistic thinkers, but they have little impact on the confidence or self esteem of pessimistic thinkers. Pervasiveness, the second dimension, refers to projecting causes across many different situations. Pessimists tend to see the causes of bad events as global and optimists tend to see them as local. As a result, people who are optimists can compartmentalize their problems more easily and move on with their lives. They say things like, “I don’t like the way Ms. Ankeny grades.” “My parents are upset about this.” Or, “Sarah isn’t my friend any more.” They remain engaged with difficult tasks. Pessimists, on the other hand, tend to catastrophize and view their entire world as falling apart when one bad event occurs. They say things like, “Teachers are unfair.” “My parents never listen to me.” Or, “Other kids don’t like me.” As a result, they tend to give up. It's the difference between the specific, and the general. When they have success experiences, pessimists and optimists think just the reverse. Pessimists localize the causes and optimists generalize them. For instance, an optimistic student who does well on a math test may say to herself, “I’m a good student.” But a pessimistic student will say something like, “I know my multiplication tables.” People who limit the effects of negative events and generalize the effects of positive events are less likely to become depressed or lose their motivation, and are more likely to persevere when they face challenges. Explanatory Style 4 Personalization is the third dimension of explanatory style and refers to one’s decision about who or what is responsible for events (Seligman, 1995). People attribute this responsibility either internally or externally. Pessimists attribute responsibility internally for bad events and externally for good events. In other words, they blame themselves when bad things happen, and they give other people the credit when good things happen. Optimists do just the reverse, taking credit for their successes. How are you likely to feel if you always think that problems are your fault? What happens to your self-confidence and general outlook over time if you rarely pat yourself on the back for your successes? You can imagine how such thinking contributes to feelings of hopelessness and helplessness. Optimists do just the opposite. They take credit for good events and attribute responsibility for bad events to external causes. This is not to say that they don’t hold themselves accountable and accept responsibility for their errors! Rather, optimists tend to see themselves more accurately than do pessimists. When problems are the result of their poor judgment, impulsivity, or impatience, for instance, they acknowledge their need to address those specific weaknesses without disparaging their entire character. They differentiate between their behavior and their person. Let’s consider two students who illustrate different perspectives about their experiences. Nathan is a talented high school junior who enjoys soccer and hanging out with his friends. He recently earned strong marks on the ACT and has consistently earned good grades, with the exception of Social Studies where he earns only mediocre grades. Nathan’s parents and teachers are concerned about him, though, because he doesn’t put forth much effort, and gives up too easily when things get difficult. He seems willing to Explanatory Style 5 slide by doing as little as possible. Although he was enthusiastic about school and soccer when he was in elementary school, his parents note that his motivation has really waned during junior and senior high. He has elected not to take most of the advanced classes his high school offers and doesn’t embrace challenge in any other arena either. In spite of his long history of relative “success” in school, Nathan doesn’t see himself as particularly intelligent or competent. He seems to be losing confidence as he gets older and feels down more often about his friendships and his future. A number of things might explain Nathan’s behavior, but one strong possibility is his explanatory style. Even though he has done well academically and socially over the years, Nathan may be quite pessimistic, attributing his successes to external factors and viewing the causes of his success as temporary and easily lost. He might think “The teachers at my school are easy graders.” “The work isn’t very difficult.” “The coach likes me.” Nathan might not think that the positive experiences in his life are likely to last, and fails to give himself credit for the strong social and academic skills he does possess. If he is a pessimist, he may have trouble when he confronts real adversity for the first time. Pessimists tend to put forth little effort, feel discouraged easily, and withdraw from challenge because they view difficult situations as hopeless. Twyla, on the other hand, is a gifted fifth grader who also has several good friends and enjoys school. She has a mild learning disability and ADHD, but in spite of these obstacles, she does well in school and has a strong self-esteem. Twyla is deeply curious about a great many things, and will spend long hours learning what she can about animals, her passion. Twyla has to work harder than many of her gifted classmates to get similar results, and has a particularly tough time in testing situations, but she is learning Explanatory Style 6 to advocate for herself and is developing a sense of humor about her limitations. Again, there are probably several factors contributing to Twyla’s emotional health,