Want to Live Longer? Be Optimistic!

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Daily brief research updates from the cognitive sciences

We probably all know some people who are particularly pessimistic – always putting a negative side to things and expecting the worst outcomes. We probably also know some people who are eternally optimistic – seeing the good in things and expecting positive outcomes. Well, we do know this can be good for many things, also for productivity and mood in the workplace. But this research also shows that being optimistic can also help you live longer.

This is good news – but only if you’re a woman! This doesn’t mean that optimistic men don’t live longer, just that this particularly study analysed the data from 159’255 women, participants in the US Women’s Health Initiative. This enrolled women between the ages of 50-79 between 1993-1998 and followed them for 26 years.

What did they find?

Simply put they found that the most optimistic lived longer on average and had the highest chances of living over 90. The most optimistic lived 5.4% longer and had a 10% higher chance of living over 90 than the least optimistic.

Isn’t this down to other factors?

There could be a chicken and egg problem her – it could be that those who do more healthy things are more optimistic and so the effect is not down to optimism itself. However, the researchers controlled for this and found that other lifestyle factors could explain only 25% of the difference. This doesn’t rule out other influences but seems to show that optimism itself is what is enabling people to live longer.

But how?

I have written about stress and positivity in other articles. Those who have followed my writing more closely know that stress and the ensuing low or high)-level inflammation can have particularly detrimental impacts on health over time. Being pessimistic is much more likely to be a higher stress state than being optimistic. Or in other words being optimistic will lower your stress and create a more positive hormonal balance in your body.

Of note is that this effect was seen across ethnic and social groupings.

So, never a truer word was said when somebody famously said “Don’t worry, be happy”…and this should also help you to live longer●

Andy Habermacher

Andy is author of leading brains Review, Neuroleadership, and multiple other books. He has been intensively involved in writing and research into neuroleadership and is considered one of Europe’s leading experts. He is also a well-known public speaker speaking on the brain and human behaviour.

Andy is also a masters athlete (middle distance running) and competes regularly at international competitions (and holds a few national records in his age category).

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Reference

Hayami K. Koga, Claudia Trudel-Fitzgerald, Lewina O. Lee, Peter James, Candyce Kroenke, Lorena Garcia, Aladdin H. Shadyab, Elena Salmoirago-Blotcher, JoAnn E. Manson, Francine Grodstein, Laura D. Kubzansky.
Optimism, lifestyle, and longevity in a racially diverse cohort of women. 
Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2022
DOI: 10.1111/jgs.17897

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