Whether you see the glass as half-full or half-empty, this Big Think video will give you a deeper glimpse into what makes people optimistic in the first place.
Speaking at the Los Angeles Hope Festival, a collaboration between Big Think and Hope & Optimism, developmental psychologist Lori Markson noted that 80 percent of the adult population is optimistic. But what about children?

“Kids are very positive . . . especially up to about six years of age,” Markson said. “You see this initial escalation in being positive and then this starts to become more realistic. The child’s own view of themselves comes more in line with reality. So we asked the question: Are children optimists, or realists?”

Watch the video to see what Markson discovered in her research.