Are you the type to see the glass half full or half empty? Are you one of those who always take life on the bright side? If so, in addition to these non-negligible daily benefits, you may have also heard that this optimism could, in addition, be good for your health.
A number of studies have in fact suggested that optimists enjoy higher levels of well-being , better sleep, less stress, better cardiovascular health, and even a better body system. immune. And now, a just-released post has shown that being optimistic will also promote a longer, healthier life .
To conduct this new study, the researchers followed nearly 160,000 women between the ages of 50 and 79 over a period of 26 years to study their longevity. At the start of the protocol, participants completed a self-report measure of optimism , and those with the highest scores were classified as optimists. The lowest scores were associated with pessimism.
Then, in 2019, the researchers recontacted the participants who were still alive. They also looked at the longevity of those who had died. What they found was that those with the highest levels of optimism were more likely to live longer. More importantly, optimists were also more likely than pessimists to live to age 90.
Researchers speak of "exceptional longevity", knowing that the average life expectancy of women is around 83 years in developed countries .).
What makes these results particularly impressive is that they remained the same after controlling for other factors known to promote a longer life – including education level, economic status, ethnicity and whether or not you have depression or other chronic health conditions.
But since this study only focused on women, it was not certain that the same was true for men. However, another study , this time looking at these gentlemen in addition to these ladies, also concluded that the most optimistic people had an 11 to 15% longer lifespan than the others.