According to a study, optimists live longer than pessimists

We’ve all heard the glass half full, half empty metaphor at least once. If you’re the glass-half-full type, we have good news: a new study, published in the journal of the National Academy of Sciences and developed over 3 decades, concluded that optimists live 15% longer than pessimists. However, if you see the glass as half empty, the survey results will give you a reason to change the way you think about life.

Today the awesome.club provides the details of this research. At the end of the post you will find a bonus with some recommendations to start seeing the bright side of life.

“Optimism is a psychological attribute characterized as the general expectation that good things will happen, or the belief that the future will be favorable because the person can control important outcomes”. This is in the first paragraphs of the study carried out by scientists at the Boston University School of Medicine, in the United States.

There are already academic texts that conclude that people with a positive thinking are less likely to suffer chronic diseases and die prematurely. The novelty that this study proposes is to quantify this statement and analyze other variables, such as, for example, socioeconomic level.

To carry out this work, data from existing studies that followed the lives of some participants for decades were analyzed: one of them was carried out with 69,744 women and another with 1,429 men. In both, questions were asked about health, but other topics were also addressed, such as thoughts and expectations for the future.

This data was crossed with others, such as habits (whether people smoke, consume alcohol or are on a diet, for example) and some demographic factors (income, marital status and others), so that the researchers reached the conclusion that there is a direct link between greater optimism and increased longevity.

In numbers, scientists determined that the most optimistic women live, on average, 14.9% longer than the pessimistic ones; in relation to men, this difference is 10.9%.

Both men and women with positive thoughts are more likely to reach older ages — according to the study, over 85 years. In these cases, the probability of overcoming this age is 1.5 times greater for women, while for men the probability is 1.7 times greater.

The exact reason why optimistic people live longer is still unknown, but scientists claim that being positive fosters healthy habits, increases resistance to negative aspects, helps set goals and achieve them, and serves to solve problems.

“Early evidence from other studies suggests that more optimistic people tend to have goals and the confidence to achieve them, are more efficient problem solvers and may be better at regulating their emotions in stressful situations,” said Lewina Lee, professor of Psychiatry at Boston University School and leader of the research.

Twin studies suggest that around 25% of optimism (or pessimism) is in the genes. The remaining percentage is in the attitudes and thoughts that each person assumes when facing the different circumstances of life. Although there is no single recipe for looking positively at life, here are some recommendations:

Every day write down 3 things you are grateful for and write down 3 kind things you have done for other people. According to Harvard researcher Eric Kim, this will help you be more optimistic.

Think about how you should be your best possible self in important areas of your life, such as family, marriage, and career.

Sleep well. “When we’re tired, we’re more emotional, and being more emotional means being more fearful,” says clinical psychologist Linda Blair.

Meditate. According to Chad-Meng Tan, who worked as an engineer and motivator at Google, this is the first step to achieving optimism. In his book he recommends that people register the happy moments of the day and wish happiness to others.

Are you the type to see the glass half full or half empty? In what aspects of your life would you like to be more optimistic? Tell in the comments.