Title: Optimism and economic choice
Description: "This paper presents some of the first large-scale survey evidence linking optimism to major economic choices.  We create a novel measure of optimism using the Survey of Consumer Finance by comparing a person's self-reported life expectancy to that implied by statistical tables.  Optimists are more likely to believe that future economic conditions will improve.  Self-employed respondents are more optimistic than regular wage earners.  In general, more optimistic people work harder and anticipate longer age-adjusted work careers.  They are more likely to remarry, conditional on divorce.  In addition, they tilt their investment portfolios more toward individual stocks"--National Bureau of Economic Research web site.
Subjects: Consumers' preferences, Consumption (Economics), Optimism, Personal Finance