News
When Optimism Means Life
Is your glass half full or half empty? The answer could be more important than you think.
In a new study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, researchers looked at how 70,000 women aged 70 or more answered questions about how optimistic they were in 2004. Then they tracked the deaths of those women from 2006 to 2012.
They found that the women who reported the highest level of optimism were 29 percent less likely to die in that period than those who were the least optimistic. The reduced risk involved various causes of death including cancer, heart disease, respiratory disease and infection.
Optimism could be linked to better health and lower mortality for several reasons says Eric Kim, an author of the study and research fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. People who are more optimistic often tend to have healthier eating, exercise and smoking habits. Optimism may somehow impact biological function, potentially through lower levels of inflammation or better immune function. Optimistic people may also have better coping skills.
According to Kim, “When they face life challenges, they create contingency plans, plan for future challenges and accept what can't be changed”.
In a new study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, researchers looked at how 70,000 women aged 70 or more answered questions about how optimistic they were in 2004. Then they tracked the deaths of those women from 2006 to 2012.
They found that the women who reported the highest level of optimism were 29 percent less likely to die in that period than those who were the least optimistic. The reduced risk involved various causes of death including cancer, heart disease, respiratory disease and infection.
Optimism could be linked to better health and lower mortality for several reasons says Eric Kim, an author of the study and research fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. People who are more optimistic often tend to have healthier eating, exercise and smoking habits. Optimism may somehow impact biological function, potentially through lower levels of inflammation or better immune function. Optimistic people may also have better coping skills.
According to Kim, “When they face life challenges, they create contingency plans, plan for future challenges and accept what can't be changed”.