Dr Marta Zawodmiecka-Sikora from the University of Łódź in central Poland said such an attitude could prevent people from taking "preventive action" to stay safe.
"It can be expected that people who have in some way experienced a threat personally will be able to realistically assess it and take preventive action in the future,” she was cited as saying by Polish state news agency PAP.
“However, there is a danger that for many people… the phenomenon of unrealistic optimism will effectively prevent them from realistically assessing the situation and taking preventive action in the future."
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced on Wednesday that Poland will relax face mask rules at the end of this week as it moves to the next phase of easing its coronavirus lockdown.
A total of 22,473 people have tested positive for the COVID-19 disease in Poland, with 1,028 deaths from the coronavirus so far, officials said on Wednesday evening.
(pk)
Source: PAP