More information: Martin Eling et al, Optimism bias and its impact on cyber risk management decisions, Risk Sciences (2024).

To the editor: In 2011, neuroscientist Tali Sharot published her book, "The Optimism Bias," in which she pointed out that 80% of the people in her study showed a bias toward being optimistic.

The optimism bias describes our tendency to overestimate our likelihood of experiencing good events in our lives, and underestimate the likelihood of suffering negative events in our lives. More ...

“Here we have a rare example of a direct manipulation experiment. This is a great step forward and promises to open up whole new avenues for research in this area.” The optimism bias was recognised ...

Economists are not immune to optimism bias—the belief that the future will always be as good as or even better than the past and present. It can affect the way they predict economic growth, especially ...

Like the optimism bias, it is a so-called positive illusion and is generally associated with good mental health. Research demonstrates that having a sense of control over life events is important ...

Because law students tend to be ambitious and competitive, they often fall prey to optimism bias, the common tendency to exaggerate one’s own capabilities and minimize potential risks.

There are indications that technical problems and manipulation, and to a lesser extent optimism bias, may be part of the explanation of observed systematic biases in forecasting. In addition, ...