Burger, J. M., & Palmer, M. L. (1992). Changes in and generalization of unrealistic optimism following experiences with stressful events: Reactions to the 1989 California earthquake.
University students who experienced the 1989 California earthquake were asked a few days afterward to estimate the likelihood that they, the typical student at the school, and the average person their age would someday experience each of several negative life events, including being hurt in a natural disaster such as an earthquake. These responses were compared with those of a quasi-experimental control group of students ...