absolute difference

the distance between two numeric values, disregarding whether this is positive or negative. The absolute difference thus provides no information about relative magnitude. For example, the absolute difference between 11 and 20 is 9, as is the absolute difference between 13 and 4.

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Psychology term of the day

February 1st 2025

optimism

n. hopefulness: the attitude that good things will happen and that people’s wishes or aims will ultimately be fulfilled. Optimists are people who anticipate positive outcomes, whether serendipitously or through perseverance and effort, and who are confident of attaining desired goals. Most individuals lie somewhere on the spectrum between the two polar opposites of pure optimism and pure pessimism but tend to demonstrate sometimes strong, relatively stable or situational tendencies in one direction or the other. See also expectancy-value model. —optimistic adj.