Pessimists live longer

[M Winther]

According to new research, people with a more pessimistic outlook live
longer. They who have an optimistic bent suffer a greater risk of
disability or death within 10 years. After 65, an optimistic outlook
increases the risk of dying within a five year period. The research also
shows that people of good health and economy are more pessimistic about
their future than people with low income and who are less well
healthwise.
http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/pag-ofp-lang.pdf
http://videnskab.dk/kort-nyt/pessimister-lever-muligvis-laengere

Mats Winther
http://home7.swipnet.se/~w-73784/

[Peter Brooks]

Actually the study is much more measured in what it says. People do
become more realistic as they get older, as things get worse when you
get older, this means that they tend to be more pessimistic. The study
concludes:

"
In sum, our findings suggest that when individuals are young, they may
not have much experience with what the future will bring. Young adults
are likely to expect continued growth in life satisfaction and thus
maintain positive illusions about their life situation in the future.
Positive illusions in young adulthood may serve personal growth and
foster the pursuit of goals with regard to future investments, for
example, in education. From our data, we cannot draw inferences about
the potential health risks of optimis- tic forecasts of life
satisfaction in early or middle adulthood because the base rates of
disability and mortality are low in these age groups. In this context,
it is obvious that in young adulthood, health outcomes may be less
critical than, for example, outcomes related to family and career
success (Weinstein, 1980). In midlife, we found that adults change
from a more optimistic to a more realistic anticipation of their
future life satisfaction. Middle-aged adults may experience a turning
point with regard to what they can expect from the future.

Finally, older adults are more pessimistic, but such pessimism is
related to better subjective health and higher income. It may be the
case that, in old age, individuals are more likely to consider that
their time in life will be limited (Carstensen, 2006) and that this
entails a closer look at savoring the present rather than expecting
things to get better in the future. We contend that such findings
serve to underscore the critical role of realistic views on the future
when having to cope with the challenges of aging.
"