A study on optimism amidst COVID-19

The aim of this study was to assess if the optimism level is affected because of the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic among people residing in Delhi and Gurugram. “Dispositional optimism is defined as a general tendency to expect positive outcomes” (C.S Carver, 2010) The sample for the study was selected purposively and administered with an online survey using the Revised Life Orientation Test (LOT-R) for measuring their optimism dispositions. At the same time the survey asked the sample if they feel that COVID-19 has had an effect on their optimism levels. The results show that despite the outbreak of this virus wherein World Health Organization(WHO) has declared that COVID -19 has infected more than 100000 people across the globe, majority of the sample from which data was collected, reported that their optimism was not affected even though more than 75% of them had low and moderate optimism disposition levels. A review on the possible reason for such high levels of optimism was assessed.