To reframe a difficult situation, search for any positive aspects or silver linings. Also, they consider these aspects unchangeable. When some people confront difficulties, they tend to only view the negative aspects of the situation. Whether you’re naturally optimistic or not, you can take certain steps in that direction. One takeaway is that we can all learn ways to be more optimistic. While one component of optimism appears to be heritable - that is, tied to our genes - our environment and learning also shape a significant portion. So why might optimism affect longevity? The study wasn’t designed to explain this, but the researchers had several thoughts. These factors may limit whether the findings apply to a wide range of people. For example, participants were largely white and had higher socioeconomic status than the general population. There were several limitations to the study results. The study controlled for factors like chronic physical conditions (such as hypertension or high cholesterol) and health behaviors (such as smoking or alcohol use). This scale examines the positive and negative explanations people give for events in their life.įor both men and women, higher levels of optimism were associated with a longer life span and “exceptional longevity,” which the researchers defined as surviving to 85. The Normative Aging Study relied on the Optimism-Pessimism Scale, administered as part of a personality assessment. The measure asks respondents to rate their level of agreement to several statements about optimism. The Nurses’ Health Study used items from the Life Orientation Test to assess optimism. The researchers analyzed data gleaned from two large population studies: about 70,000 women from the Nurses’ Health Study and about 1,400 men from the Veterans Affairs Normative Aging Study. They also had a greater chance of living past age 85. The study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that people who had higher levels of optimism had a longer life span. What does this new research on optimism tell us? And now a new study links optimism to living a longer life. Optimism is also associated with a lower risk of early death from cancer and infection. Plenty of research suggests optimistic people have a reduced risk of heart disease, stroke, and declines in lung capacity and function.
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