What mindset best describes someone who believes luck will change their fortunes based on previous experiences?

The mindset that best describes someone who believes luck will change their fortunes based on previous experiences is wishful thinking. This perspective involves a reliance on hope or the desire for a favorable outcome, without necessarily grounding that belief in logic or evidence. Individuals with this mindset often place emphasis on chance or fortune to effect change in their lives, believing that positive outcomes can occur if they hold on to the hope that luck will turn in their favor.

This contrasts with other mindsets such as optimism, which involves a generally positive outlook on life or expectations of good outcomes based on a broader array of factors, and realism, which focuses on practical or factual aspects of situations. Despair, on the other hand, is characterized by a sense of hopelessness and the belief that nothing will change for the better, which is quite different from the hopeful anticipation found in wishful thinking. Therefore, the belief that luck will change one's fortunes aligns closely with the concept of wishful thinking.