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Get optimistic, live longer
22/12/2006 21:51 - (SA)
New York - Optimists may enjoy longer lives than people with a dimmer outlook on the future, suggests a long-term study.
Researchers found that of the nearly 7 000 adults followed since their college days in the 1960s, those who were optimistic in their youth had a lower risk of dying over the following 40 years than their more pessimistic peers.
On average, the most pessimistic study participants were 42% more likely to die of any cause than the most positive participants, found the study, published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings medical journal.
The results echo those of a number of previous studies on personality factors and health, including research linking optimism to longer life.
One study of elderly adults found that those with a positive view of the future were less likely than pessimists to die over the next decade - regardless of their health at the start of the study.
Healthier lifestyle
The latest findings can be explained by any number of factors, say the study authors, led by Dr Beverly H Brummett of Duke University Medical Centre in Durham, in the American state of North Carolina.
For example, optimists are less likely to have depression than pessimists, which could, in turn, affect their physical health.
They may also maintain a healthier lifestyle, and pay more attention to their diet and exercise habits.
The findings are based on a 40-year follow-up of 6 958 men and women who entered the University of North Carolina in the mid-1960s.
They took a standard personality test at the time, gauging their tendency to be optimistic or pessimistic.
In general, optimists believe negative events are only temporary and don't let them affect their overall attitude about themselves and the world.
Pessimists, in contrast, take such events to heart, often blaming themselves and believing that the bad times will last forever.
Change your ways
Some 1 630 of participants in the study were deemed pessimists and 923 optimists, while most were judged to be somewhere between a pure optimist or pessimist.
If pessimism is a risk factor for premature death, that begs the question of whether anything can be done about it.
It was difficult to change the basic constructs of your personality, Brummett told Reuters Health. However, "there are many aspects of personality that can be modified to a certain degree if an individual is motivated to do so".
For example, Brummett said, people with a hostile temperament, a trait linked to heart disease and premature death, may be able to change their ways with the help of anger management therapy.
On the other side of the spectrum, people might try injecting some positivity into their lives. Brummett pointed to meditation, which, research shows, may boost positive emotions.
- Reuters
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