People who see the world through rose-colored glasses live longer and healthier lives, according to new research. Scientists have found that optimists respond to stressful situations in the same way as pessimists, but they recover from these events more easily. According to the news of NTV; There was also evidence from previous studies that optimists live longer and better. However, researchers did not fully understand the effect of seeing the glass half full on healthy aging.
An assistant professor of psychiatry at Boston University, Dr. Lewina Lee and colleagues analyzed information provided by 233 men who were at least 21 years old when they enrolled in the U.S. Veterans Affairs Normative Aging Study between 1961 and 1970.
DATA COLLECTED OVER 60 YEARS
Surveys conducted in the 1980s and 90s evaluated the optimism levels of men.
Between 2002 and 2010, the mood of the volunteers and the stressful situations they faced were compared. Researchers found that optimists can recover faster than pessimists and return to a good mood more quickly after a stressful event.
“We reported that more optimistic men have fewer daily stressors, which partially explains their negative moods. This tells us that perhaps more optimistic men either limit their exposure to stressful situations or are less likely to perceive or label situations as stressful,” Lee said. it shows,” he said.
IS IT POSSIBLE TO BE BETTER?
That said, although the study, published in the Journals of Gerontology, focused on older men, Lee said he expects the findings to apply to older women as well. “Less is known about age differences in the role of optimism in health,” she added.
On the other hand, Lee explained that although levels of optimism or pessimism tend to stay pretty much the same throughout people’s lives, he believes there are ways to develop a more rosy outlook for those who want it.
“One way to be more optimistic is to develop an awareness of how we internally react or judge a situation,” Lee said. Many times our automatic response includes a negative evaluation or worst case scenario. It will be useful to catch ourselves while doing this and then try to find different ways of approaching the situation.”
“DON’T MEAN IGNORE FACTS”
Lee continued:
“Being more optimistic does not mean being Pollyannalike or ignoring the risks that are a common misconception about optimism. It can include acknowledging our strengths, examples of past success, and areas over which we have control so that we can take a more positive and confident outlook.”