The pessimists will probably die two years earlier than the others. These are the results of an Australian study on average life expectancy. In contrast, for optimists, or those with a neutral outlook, no association, positive or negative, has been made with various causes of death. Several studies have undertaken to measure the relationship between the world view, pessimistic or optimistic, of people and their health. Australian researchers from Berghofer Médical Research Institute in Brisbane thus measured scores of pessimism and optimism on two separate scales.
These measurements took place in the 1990s (during the period 1993-1995) with Australian citizens over the age of 50. After about 20 years, this data collected from 3,000 participants was collated, compared to deaths (just over 1,000) and studied. A correlation was observed between pessimism scores and different causes of death including cardiovascular disease, but not cancer. The optimistic scores did not allow significant associations to be made with the different causes of death.
Previous individual personality studies have also shown links between optimism / pessimism and disease risk. Recent meta-analyzes, that is, those comparing data from several studies, have confirmed these associations. “In general, more optimistic people have longer lives than more pessimistic people,” says research published in Nature.
Something is striking. According to the study led by Professor John Whitfield, mood disorders like depression do not appear to have a role in the relationship between pessimism and mortality. In an interview with ABC Australia, Professor Whitfield explained that he does not believe in a direct relationship between pessimism and illness. “You would think that pessimists take less care of themselves and their health. They may think there is no point in following diet or exercise advice, etc. ” On the other hand, the researchers found that higher optimism scores did not correlate with a shorter or longer life expectancy.
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