Being a Debbie Downer isn’t just a pain for people around you — it could also be shortening your life, a new study finds.
Or, if you’re a glass-half-full kind of person, optimism just might help you live longer.
Those who have a more positive outlook have an 11 to 15% longer lifespan, and 50 to 70% greater odds of reaching 85 years old compared to those who are less optimistic, according to research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The study mostly looked at women — nearly 70,000 ladies participated, along with about 1,500 men. They completed a survey that ranked their level of optimism, tracking the women for 10 years and the men for 30 years.
And even after accounting for health behaviors such as alcohol use, diet and exercise, the researchers found that their cheeriest participants lived longer than the killjoys.
The study is one of the few to link positive thinking to healthy aging, says Lewina Lee, assistant professor of psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine.
And best of all, Lee notes in a statement, it’s cheaper than any drug out there.
“Interestingly,” Lee says, “optimism may be modifiable using relatively simple techniques or therapies.”