The danger of unrealistic optimism: Linking caregivers' perceived ability to help victims of terror with their own secondary traumatic stress

Journal of Applied Social Psychology

Volumn 41, Issue 11, 2011, Pages 2656-2672

  Shalvi, Shaul ^a   Shenkman, Geva ^b   Handgraaf, Michel J J ^a   de Dreu, Carsten K W ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF AMSTERDAM   (Netherlands)

^b TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY   (Israel)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 81355124205     PISSN: 00219029     EISSN: 15591816     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2011.00844.x     Document Type: Article

References (44)

1. Abramson, L. Y., & Alloy, L. B. (1981). Depression, nondepression, and cognitive illusions: Reply to Schwartz. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 110, 436-447.
2. Alloy, L. B., & Ahrens, A. H. (1987). Depression and pessimism for the future: Biased use of statistically relevant information in predictions for self versus others. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 366-378.
3. Allport, G. W. (1943). Becoming: Basic considerations for a psychology of personality. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
4. Basham, K. (2008). Homecoming as safe haven or the new front: Attachment and detachment in military couples. Clinical Social Work Journal, 36, 83-96.
5. th ed., pp. 680-740). New York: McGraw-Hill.
6. Baumeister, R. F., & Scher, S. J. (1988). Self-defeating behavior patterns among normal individuals: Review and analysis of common self-destructive tendencies. Psychological Bulletin, 104, 3-22.
7. Boscarino, J. A., Figley, C. R., & Adams, R. E. (2004). Compassion fatigue following the September 11 terrorist attacks: A study of secondary trauma among New York City social workers. International Journal of Emergency Mental Health, 6, 1-9.
8. Bride, B. E. (2007). Prevalence of secondary traumatic stress among social workers. Social Work, 52, 63-70.
9. Colvin, C. R., & Block, J. (1994). Do positive illusions foster mental health? An examination of the Taylor and Brown formulation. Psychological Bulletin, 116, 3-20.
10. Creamer, T. L., & Liddle, B. J. (2005). Secondary traumatic stress among disaster mental health workers responding to the September 11 attacks. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 18, 89-96.
11. De Dreu, C. K. W., Nauta, A., & Van de Vliert, E. (1995). Self-serving evaluations of conflict behavior and escalation of the dispute. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 25, 2049-2066.
12. Deighton, R. M., Gurris, N., & Traue, H. (2007). Factors affecting burnout and compassion fatigue in psychotherapists treating torture survivors: Is the therapist's attitude to working through trauma relevant? Journal of Traumatic Stress, 20, 63-75.
13. Dunning, D. (2005). Self-insight: Roadblocks and detours on the path to knowing thyself. New York: Psychological Press.
14. Dunning, D., Heath, C., & Suls, J. M. (2004). Flawed self-assessment: Implications for health, education, and the workplace. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 5, 69-106.
15. Eidelson, R. J., D'Alessio, G. R., & Eidelson, J. I. (2003). The impact of September 11 on psychologists. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 34, 144-150.
16. Erikson, E. H. (1985). Childhood and society. New York: W. W. Norton.
17. Figley, C. R. (1995). Compassion fatigue: Coping with secondary traumatic stress disorder in those who treat the traumatized. New York: Brunner/Mazel.
18. Figley, C. R., & Stamm, B. H. (1996). Psychometric review of Compassion Fatigue Self-Test. In B. H. Stamm (Ed.), Measurement of stress, trauma and adaptation (pp. 127-130). Lutherville, MD: Sidran.
19. Fischhoff, B. (1976). Attribution theory and judgment under uncertainty. In J. H. Harvey, W. J. Ickes, & R. F. Kidd (Eds.), New directions in attribution research (Vol. 1, pp. 421-452). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
20. Gagin, R., Cohen, M., & Peled-Avram, M. (2005). Family support and victim identification in mass casualty terrorist attacks: An integrative approach. International Journal of Emergency Mental Health, 7, 125-131.
21. Ghahramanlou, M., & Brodbeck, C. (2000). Predictors of secondary trauma in sexual assault trauma counselors. International Journal of Emergency Mental Health, 2, 229-240.
22. Helweg-Larsen, M., & Shepperd, J. A. (2001). Do moderators of the optimism bias affect personal or target risk estimates? A review of the literature. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 5, 74-95.
23. Herman, J. L. (1997). Trauma and recovery. New York: Basic Books.
24. Johnson, S. D. (1995). Will our research hold up under scrutiny? Journal of Industrial Teacher Education, 32, 3-6.
25. th ed.). New York: Macmillan.
26. Kelley, H. H. (1967). Attribution theory in social psychology. In D. Levine (Ed.), Nebraska Symposium of Motivation (Vol. 15, pp. 192-240). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
27. Lev-Wiesel, R., Goldblatt, H., Eizikovits, Z., & Admi, H. (2008). Growth in the shadow of war: The case of social workers and nurses working in a shared war reality. British Journal of Social Work, 39, 1154-1174.
28. O'Hare, D. (1990). Pilots' perception of risk and hazard in general aviation. Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine, 61, 599-603.
29. Ortlepp, K., & Friedman, M. (2002). Prevalence and correlates of secondary traumatic stress in workplace lay trauma counselors. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 15, 213-222.
30. Pearlman, L. A., & Saakvitne, K. W. (1995). Treating therapists with vicarious traumatization and secondary traumatic stress disorders. In C. R. Figley (Ed.), Compassion fatigue: Coping with secondary traumatic stress disorder in those who treat the traumatized (pp. 150-177). New York: Brunner/Mazel.
31. Pfifferling, J. H., & Gilley, K. (2000, April). Overcoming compassion fatigue. Family Practice Management, 39-44.
32. Rizley, R. (1978). Depression and distortion in the attribution of causality. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 87, 32-48.
33. Sedikides, C., & Strube, M. J. (1997). Self-evaluation: To thine own self be good, to thine own self be sure, to thine own self be true, and to thine own self be better. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 29, 209-269.
34. Shalvi, S., & Luzzatto, D. (2006). Lack of safe environment: Emotional difficulties and coping among clinicians treating traumatized patients within a terrorized society-Israel 2006. Traumatology, 12, 282-292.
35. Stamm, B. H. (2002). Measuring compassion satisfaction as well as fatigue: Developmental history of the Compassion Fatigue and Satisfaction Test. In C. R. Figley (Ed.), Treating compassion fatigue (pp. 107-119). New York: Brunner/Mazel.
36. Stamm, B. H. (2005). The ProQOL. Retrieved January 10, 2009, from.
37. Svenson, O. (1981). Are we all less risky and more skillful than our fellow drivers? Acta Psychologica, 47, 143-148.
38. th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
39. Taylor, S. E., & Armor, D. A. (1996). Positive illusions and coping with adversity. Journal of Personality, 64, 873-898.
40. Taylor, S. E., & Brown, J. D. (1988). Illusion and well-being: A social psychological perspective on mental health. Psychological Bulletin, 103, 193-210.
41. Taylor, S. E., & Brown, J. D. (1994). Positive illusions and well-being revisited: Separating fact from fiction. Psychological Bulletin, 116, 21-27.
42. Wee, D. F., & Myers, D. (2002). Stress response of mental health workers following disaster: The Oklahoma City bombing. In C. R. Figley (Ed.), Treating compassion fatigue (pp. 57-83). New York: Brunner/Routledge.
43. Weinstein, N. D. (1980). Unrealistic optimism about future life events. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 806-820.
44. Woodrow, R., & Ginsberg, N. (1997). Creating roles for social work in changing health care organizations. Social Work in Health Care, 25, 243-257.