Framing optimism sociologically: Temporal complexity, collective affect, and cultures of optimism

This article critically examines the concept of optimism through a sociological lens, challenging its conventional portrayal as a unidimensional, inherently positive, and often unrealistic disposition towards the future. We first argue against an individualistic understanding of optimism, emphasizing the necessity of integrating it into social theory as a multifaceted, cultural, affective, and temporal phenomenon. By elucidating our criticism of optimism as an unrealistic attitude, we delve into its temporal complexity, highlighting how its realism depends on its embeddedness in different “modes of engagement” with the future. To further deconstruct optimism’s one-dimensionality, we analyze the conceptual distinctions between “small” and “big” optimism, exploring their intricate relationship with “small” and “big” futures. This framework illuminates how optimism manifests with varying meanings in different future engagements. We also integrate concepts like “affective atmospheres” and “structures of feeling” to position optimism within wider cultures of futurity, underscoring its emotional and collective dimensions, particularly its emergence from shared social contexts, cultures, and collective affects. While primarily theoretical, the article draws upon existing youth research to illustrate how this refined understanding of optimism can offer richer insights into specific social groups and their orientations towards the future. We conclude by advocating for more empirical research to further investigate the nexus between dimensions of optimism and futures.