Optimism and Longevity

Abstract

Optimism comes from the Latin word optimus, meaning “best” which describes how an optimist person is always looking for the best in any situation and expecting good things to happen. Optimism is the tendency to believe, expect or hope that things will turn out well. Even if something bad happens, like the loss of a job, an optimist sees the silver lining. Optimism is the idea that there is always a positive outcome, no matter the situation. Over the last twenty to thirty years, more and more research has been done to find out what helps people to live longer. There are several theories and even more medical evidence that healthy living and optimistic thought processes can support longer life. Optimism is believed to consist of positive thinking that is “…used by people to explain the good and bad events in their lives to themselves”18. Longevity is a word used to express the length of life or the desire to live longer. These two ideas seem to have a positive correlation to one another, as a person who desires to live longer can do so by having a positive outlook on life and the world around them. Research has proven that optimism on an individual basis has the ability to improve longevity in life and in the workplace. We cite many case studies to show a strong positive correlation between optimism and longevity. This paper will demonstrate how optimistic thought processes can be learned, how they correlate to healthy living, how pessimism can be shown to demonstrate the opposite.

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