ABSTRACT
Among the most intriguing correlates of explanatory style is physical well-being. Individuals with an optimistic style of explaining bad events, attributing them to external, unstable, and specific causes, tend to experience better health than their pessimistic counterparts, who explain bad events with internal, stable, and global causes. This chapter describes the studies that established this correlation. More recent investigations that attempt to make sense of this link are discussed. The chapter closes with a discussion of questions that remain to be answered regarding this line of work. (For a more extensive discussion of explanatory style and physical health, refer to Peterson & Bossio, 1991.)
