A positive attitude may increase your lifespan

Having a “glass half full” outlook can add years to your life.

A recently published study of women found that higher optimism was associated with a longer lifespan and a greater likelihood of achieving exceptional longevity overall, across racial and ethnic groups. Lifestyle differences had little impact on the outcomes.

The study, published in the “Journal of the American Geriatrics Society,” found that 25% of the most optimistic participants were likely to live up to 5.4% longer. They were also 10% more likely to live beyond 90 years than a quarter of the least optimistic participants.

The World Bank reports that the average female life expectancy in the U.S. is 80.2 years. A 5.4% “optimism bonus” could add 4.3 years, raising life expectancy to 84.5 years.

“A lot of previous work has focused on deficits or risk factors that increase the risks for diseases and premature death,” said the study’s lead author, Hayami Koga, a student in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences studying in the Population Health Sciences program in partnership with Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “Our findings suggest that there’s value to focusing on positive psychological factors, like optimism, as possible new ways of promoting longevity and healthy aging across diverse groups.”

The study’s findings reflect one factor Methuselah Foundation fundamentally believes is critical to extending the human lifespan: a Lust for Life. Personal optimism, or a positive outlook on life, is one way that a lust for life comes to life in people.

“Lust for Life” recognizes the importance of fighting the sense of isolation, hopelessness, and uselessness that often accompanies aging. That’s why one of the seven strategies that guide Foundation investments, planning, and policies focuses specifically on this problem—the lack of optimism.

“Lust for Life” addresses the need to restore the sensory organs, sight, taste, smell, touch, and hearing, while eliminating the aches and pains associated with advancing age. Among the aged, depression, loss of purpose, and social isolation are serious problems. Losing athletic competence often results in fear of injury, limited independence, and loneliness. Social isolation and physical disability lead to feelings of uselessness and hopelessness. Loss of acuity of the senses endangers the elderly and limits their ability to savor the little things in life that add up to happiness.

We came up with our seven strategies because no single solution will lengthen the healthy human lifespan. It will take a combination of things to help us reach our goal of making 90 the new 50 by 2030.

Join us to bring this dream to life. Donate to Methuselah Foundation.