Who lives longer, optimists or pessimists? The study situation on this question is contradictory. Pessimists have been encouraged to care more about their health, while optimists have been less prone to certain illnesses such as depression or cardiovascular disease. A new study now says that optimists are getting old rather optimist, according to researchers in the journal of the US National Academy of Sciences "PNAS".
Lewina Lee's team from the Boston University School of Medicine used two databases that have been used to store the medical history of specific occupational groups for decades. The researchers were given information about the health and lifestyle of nearly 70,000 nurses and 1,429 veterans.
Optimists live 15 percent longer
All participants had indicated in questionnaires whether they are more optimistic or pessimistic. The researchers defined optimists as people who believe that good things will happen or that the future is desirable because they can achieve certain goals. The researchers divided the women into four groups - from very optimistic to very pessimistic. For the men there were five groups.
The result: women in the most optimistic group lived on average 15 percent longer than those in the most pessimistic group. The researchers only analyzed women who had similar demographics and pre-existing conditions. For optimistic men, the difference in life was eleven percent.
The chance of becoming 85 or older was 50 percent greater for the group of the strongest optimists than for the strongest pessimists. For men, the difference in the study was 70 percent.
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However, the study can only show that an optimistic being often associated with a longer life expectancy. It can not be ruled out that the healthier are naturally more optimistic. The lower rates of illness would not be directly explained by the attitude towards life.
The scientists therefore investigated whether the higher life expectancy could be due to the fact that optimists generally live healthier lives, for example, go to the doctor more regularly, smoke less or drink alcohol and do more sports. In fact, the difference between the subjects weakened as the researchers calculated these lifestyle differences, but it did not quite disappear.
"This study has great relevance to public health, because it suggests that optimism is one of the psychological factors that can prolong a human life," says lead author Lee.
Positive thoughts can not cure cancer
However, the effect of positive thoughts should not be overestimated. So persistently holds the belief that cancer is psychologically conditioned. In a representative survey of the Cancer Information Service of the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ), 61 percent agreed with the statement that mental stress and stress can trigger cancer. There is no clear scientific evidence for this. On the contrary (read more here).
Nevertheless, optimism can have a positive effect on mental health, says Ralph Schliewenz from the Professional Association of German Psychologists: "Optimists feel that they are in control of things and that feeling can be learned as well Assess your own options, take small steps, stay realistic, that's a path to optimism. "
