200 SHELLEY E. TAYLOR AND JONATHON D. BROWN Summary and Implications To summarize, we return to the criteria of mental health offered earlier and relate them systematically to positive illusions. Those criteria include happiness or contentment, caring for and about others, and the capacity for creative, productive work. Although research does not systematically address the role of each of the three positive illusions with respect to each criterion of mental health, the evidence is suggestive in all cases. Happy people are more likely to have positive conceptions of themselves, a belief in their ability to control what goes on around them, and optimism about the future. They also typically have high self-esteem. The ability to care for others appears to be associated with positive illusions in that illusions are associated with certain aspects of social bonding. The capacity for creative, productive work is fostered both by enhanced intellectual functioning, which may be an outgrowth of positive illusions, and by the increased motivation, activity level, and persistence that are clearly fostered by a positive sense of self, a sense of control, and optimism. Accommodating Illusions to Reality The previous analysis presents some theoretical and practical dilemmas. On the one hand, we have an established view of mental health coming largely from the fields of psychiatry and clinical psychology that stresses the importance of accurate perceptions of the self, one's circumstances, and the future. On the other hand, we have a sharply different portrait from cognitive and social psychology of the normal individual as one who evidences substantial biases in these perceptions. Moreover, these biases fall in a predictable direction, namely, a positive one. How are we to reconcile these viewpoints? A second dilemma concerns the functional value of illusions. On the one hand, positive illusions appear to be common and, more important, appear to be associated with positive outcomes that promote good mental health. On the other hand, this evidence flies in the face of much clinical wisdom as well as commonsense notions that people must monitor reality accurately to survive. Thus, it is important to consider how positive illusions can be maintained and, more important, can be functional in the face of realistic and often contradictory evidence from the environment. Reconciling Contradictory Vi