Focuses on the influence of Eastern and Western culture on optimism and pessimism. The first part of the chapter looks at research findings associated with the examination of optimism and pessimism between Easterners and Westerners. Research from S. J. Heine and D. R. Lehman's (1995) study on unrealistic optimism, and Y.-T. Lee and M. E. P. Seligman's (1997) study on explanatory style is examined, followed by examination of findings from Chang's (1996) study on dispositional optimism. The second section includes some implications of these and other findings for assessment and intervention. In particular, A. T. Beck's (1976) cognitive model of psychological adjustment is used to consider culture-specific interventions for working with distressed Asian Americans and White Americans. Some pitfalls of viewing pessimism as a key marker of depression in others are discussed in light of recent findings.