Research shows that whether a person is an optimist or a pessimist is related to their quality of life, including their physical health. The subjects involved first took personality tests in the 1960′s and then thirty years later they completed a follow-up self-assessment of their health status. Researchers found that not only did the optimists from the 1960′s report better physical and mental functioning thirty years later, but that optimists also lived longer on average than pessimists.
It’s hardly clear that there is a causal relationship between optimism and health; it could be that they are related to the same underlying gene complex or set of mechanisms. Still, it sure is tempting to surmise that it’s partly a positive attitude that keeps people alive for so long. It may actually be possible that a lot of what my parents have been telling me for years is true. If you think positively, good things may happen to you. If you think negatively, then you may doom yourself.
研究表明，不管一个人是乐观还是悲观，都他的生活水平息息有关，包含身体健康。这个主题初次在二十世纪六十年代提出并做了人格测试，三十年后他们后续完成了健康情况的自我评价。研究职员发现60年代的乐观主义者不只身心比30年后的人更健康，而且乐观主义者比悲观主义者更长寿。
非常难理清乐观与健康之间的因果关系，或许是由于它们与相同的潜在基因或是一套机制有关。不过，可以一定的是，一定量上的积极心态能叫人长寿。事实上可能多年来我爸爸妈妈告诉我的很多事情都是真的。假如你积极地看待这个世界，好的事情就可能发生在你身上。假如你一直消极地看待所有，那样只能叫你自己更郁闷。
