Optimism and Lifespan

Dianna Baker from About.com Working Moms

How being a pessimist can shorten your life!!! FOR REAL!

In Mayo Clinic in the US, researchers selected almost 900 people who referred themselves for medical care. When they were originally admitted to the clinic, they took a series of examinations and as part of the series were tested for their level of optimism. Thirty years later, 200 of the original 900 had died, with the optimists living 19% longer than the pessimists.

But the sceptic would respond, there may have been lots of other variables that had come into play: diet, work pressure, a sexually transmitted disease and so on. So where could you do a study where all these remain the same for the whole population?…a convent

A group of psychologists analysed an autobiographical story which nuns wrote as they were completing their final vows before entering a convent in 1900. The scientists discovered that 90% of the most positive quarter were still alive at 84. In contrast only 34% of the least positive quarter were still alive.

Furthermore 54% of the most positive quarter were still alive at 94. And after studying many other factors, level of optimism was the only one that had a significant correlation with lifespan.

So how long are you going to live?

Diana Baker is a Personal Performance Coach, try MORE, be MORE, get MORE in Sydney Area, Australia

I have no desire to live forever. I only want to live as long as I can contribute. That being said I think I am an optimist. I think being positive makes life much more pleasant. So I will keep looking for the good in people, places and things because it makes me happy to do so.