The Life-Changing Power of Optimism: a Link Between Optimism and Longevity

In a nutshell

Maintaining a positive mindset can potentially increase your lifespan by up to 8 years.
Optimism is a learnable trait, with only a quarter of it being determined by genetics and the remaining 75% being within our power to cultivate.
To cultivate an optimistic mindset, one can visualize a future where everything goes well, surround oneself with optimistic and self-driven individuals, and regularly practice gratitude.

When it comes to longevity, your mindset is the key.¹ A positive mindset can prolong your life by up to 8 years, which is a striking number. This happens through behavioral and possibly neurophysiological changes attributed to optimism.

What is optimism?

Optimism is a psychological attribute characterized as the general expectation that good things will happen or the belief that the future will be favorable because one can control important outcomes. Many studies reported that more optimistic people are less likely to suffer from chronic diseases and die prematurely. ² Conversely, a pessimistic orientation to the environment shortens one’s life span, partly due to poor health habits. ³ ⁴

Can optimism add some additional years to your life?

The answer is “yes.” One study⁵ found that optimistic people live 11 to 15% longer on average and are more likely to achieve “exceptional longevity,” i.e., living to the age of 85 or beyond. The study was conducted by researchers at the Boston University School of Medicine and involved more than 121 000 women followed for ten years and more than 2000 men followed for 30 years. The results remained consistent even after taking into account factors like health, socioeconomic status, health behaviors (such as smoking, diet, and alcohol use), and race and ethnicity. ⁶ A possible explanation could be that optimism improves physical and mental health. ⁷

How does a positive attitude affect longevity?

There are different explanations for why a positive attitude adds additional years to our life. An optimistic attitude is associated with health-promoting behaviors, ultimately facilitating longevity. Simply put, optimists are more likely to strive to maintain a healthy lifestyle by eating healthy foods and exercising regularly because they believe their efforts impact the outcome. On the other hand, pessimist people are more likely to make poor health choices, presumably due to a lack of proper motivation. People with a pessimist mindset might give up on exercise because they don’t think it’s worth the effort. They may not see the point in eating healthy food when they believe their illnesses will eventually catch up with them anyway. Optimistic people have better social connections, partly because they work harder on them. ⁸

Developing an optimistic mindset is essential if you want to live a longer and healthier life.

Optimists usually look differently at situations around them and experience less distress in their daily lives, even when there are challenges. ⁹ Different stress-coping strategies and good social connections contribute to better odds of living a longer and happier life. Moreover, there are enormous differences in brain neurochemistry between optimistic and pessimistic people. ¹⁰ Optimism stimulates the release of dopamine, the neurochemical responsible for reinforcement, motivation, and feelings of happiness and satisfaction. Usually, its amount goes down with aging, so keeping it up with positive thinking could be a good idea.

To sum up, developing an optimistic mindset is essential if you want to live longer and healthier. But what if you are not by nature an optimistic person … don’t get desperate! The good news is that optimism is only about 25 percent inheritable, ¹¹ meaning we have control over the remaining 75%.

How to become an optimist?

Anyone can learn to be optimistic! We picked up some scientifically proven techniques that can help you to adopt an optimistic way of looking at life.

“Best possible self” (BPS) manipulation. ¹² A BPS requires people to envision themselves in an imaginary future where everything turns in the most optimal way. This technique leads to an immediate increase in positive future expectancies and a decrease in negative future expectancies. It’s only enough to practice this technique for five minutes daily, and you will notice the difference in two weeks.
Focusing on your environment. As a motivational speaker, Jim Rohn, once said, we are the average of the five people we spend the most time with. Optimistic people with a positive attitude are very contagious and will help you to develop an optimistic attitude to life. Avoid toxic and negative relationships and surround yourself with positive and self-motivated people.
Practice gratitude. Gratitude is one of the underpinnings of optimism. When we are grateful, we focus on the things that we are thankful for, which can help us feel more positive and hopeful about the future. There are different ways of bringing gratitude to your life. You can try writing down every evening a few nice things that happened to you every day and then reflect on them at the end of each week. It will help redirect your attention to a positive experience in your life.

And what about our beliefs and a specific longevity mindset? Can one develop this state of mind?

Definitely! If you believe you have a decade or two left, or if you believe you have 100 years left – this shapes your attitude to life and your body. You treat yourself and your body differently depending on your beliefs.

If you would like to try to develop a longevity mindset, we share some practical tips on how to develop and maintain a longevity mindset.

Recap and final thoughts

Adopting an optimistic approach to life can potentially increase your lifespan. Some scientifically proven techniques can help you cultivate a cheerful attitude: visualizations of a positive, more favorable future, looking for a community of optimistic and self-motivated peers, and practicing gratitude regularly.

References

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