Think Positive, Live Longer
Researchers have found that people with more positive views about
aging lived an average 7.6 years longer than those with negative
perceptions
Study: Think positive, live longer
Elderly can think themselves into the grave, report finds
WASHINGTON, July 28 — Older people can literally think
themselves into the grave by feeling bad about getting old,
researchers said on Sunday.
How one feels about getting old is more important than having low
blood pressure or cholesterol, the study found.
PEOPLE WHO SAID they had more positive views about aging
lived an average 7.6 years longer than those with negative
perceptions, the researchers report in the August issue of the
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, published by the
American Psychological Association.
How one feels about getting old is more important even than
having low blood pressure or cholesterol, said the researchers led
by psychologist Becca Levy of Yale University.
“The effect of more positive self-perceptions of aging on
survival is greater than the physiological measures of low
systolic blood pressure and cholesterol, each of which is
associated with a longer lifespan of four years or less,” Levy’s
team wrote.
“It is also greater than the independent contributions
of lower body mass index, no history of smoking, and a tendency to
exercise, each of these factors has been found to contribute
between one and three years of added life.”
The researchers looked at a survey of 660 Ohio residents
aged 50 and older who took part in the Ohio Longitudinal Study of
Aging and Retirement as far back as 23 years.
Some of the questions, which have a yes or no answer,
included, “As you get older, you are less useful.”
“Our study carries two messages. The discouraging one is
that negative self-perceptions can diminish life expectancy. The
encouraging one is that positive self-perceptions can prolong life
expectancy,” said the researchers, whose work was funded by the
National Institute on Aging. |
